


All The World's A Stage

by midnightecho



Category: Horrible Histories RPF
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-11-24 07:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 22,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightecho/pseuds/midnightecho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mat has always wanted to act, and when his opportunity comes, he gets more than he bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Mat sighed. The dust clouded around his feet as he swept the stage for the last time that day, just like he did every evening. When he reached the edge of the vast platform, he leant on his broom and gazed out at the seemingly infinite rows, imagining every seat filled, every spectator cheering as he walked to the centre of the stage. Substituting a microphone stand with his broom, he sang into the darkness. It was a song he’d recently written, and the crowd sung along, already knowing every word to his latest hit, the screams of his name ringing gloriously in his ears-

“...Mat?”

Mat’s eyes shot open as he spun around.

“Sorry to interrupt your fantasy, but I’m closing up now. Everyone else has already finished up and left,” Mat’s manager said.

Mat looked at his feet.

“S-sorry, Jim,” Mat said as he shuffled over to the broom cupboard and put away his broom. “I just want my own moment. Just one. I’ve waited 20 years already and it’s still wildly   
out of my reach. Am I ever going to get anywhere?” he asked his boss desperately.

Jim walked over to his employee. “Of course you will, mate. You’re an incredible singer and actor, we both know it. And I’m doing my best to get you an opportunity, I really am, it’s just what with money being so tight for everyone these days all the companies who come here only want to put on a show and are really reluctant to take on any new guys.” His friend sighed. “Come on, let’s get a drink. Martha’s already at the pub, she’s been waiting for us for half an hour already.”

“Yeah, go on, I could do with a pint.”

***

“There you are!” Martha yelled from the other side of the small room as Mat and Jim walked into the crowded room. She wobbled up to them, a pint in either hand. “What took you so long?!” she yelled, despite their closeness. She shoved a pint into each of their hands. “I’ve already had a few, I got tired of waiting,” she giggled as they squeezed between the   
full tables and eventually took their standard seats in the back corner of the room.

“Yeah, sorry we took so long, Mat was evening-dreaming again,” Jim said playfully.

Mat shrugged him off casually, sipping his beer. “So is Katy joining us tonight?” Mat asked Martha, glancing at the tables around him.

“She should be, she said she just had to finish off at the cafe- Oh! There she is! KATY!!” Martha began waving over-enthusiastically in the direction of the door them stumbled over towards her friend in her haste to hug her. Mat turned to welcome Katy from the comfort of his chair, raising a hand in greeting when he caught her eye. Another figure entered a few seconds after her, a tall dark silhouette who lingered nervously in the doorway and tentatively searched the dingy pub with his sea-blue eyes that shone out of the shadows like sapphire searchlights.

Mat was transfixed. He knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it. On her way past, Katy waved a hand in front of Mat’s face, failing miserably to break his gaze. She simply shook her head and took her seat next to him.

 

Ben felt eyes on him. He searched the small pub, trying to look anywhere but the corner of the room that the ‘watched’ feeling was emanating from, but the sense eventually drew a glance out of him.

And in that glance, he was glad it had. His cautious look was met by one of awe, pure beautiful awe, before hurriedly flickering to a shy and embarrassed smile cast at the floor.  
Ben felt a small smile form at the corners of his mouth despite his efforts not to. He watched the man start to turn, with a final glance in his direction, towards the table he was sat at, and was soon after brought back to reality as he heard his colleagues calling from the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

When Mat turned back to his friends, he was grinning. They waited for him to say something, but it was pretty clear after a few moments that he was lost once again in his own little world.

“First time I’ve seen his face that bright all day,” Jim said to the other two. “Well, apart from possibly when he was playing air guitar to the empty theatre for five minutes straight-”

“Hey!” Mat exclaimed, snapping out of it. “You watched me in my fantasy for five minutes?!”

“’Course not, mate, I’m just joking,” Jim smiled. “Shall I get another round of drinks?”

The group piped up in consent as Jim stood up and made his way over to the bar.

“So,” Martha tried to whisper, “Who is he, Mat?”

“What?” Mat looked up from the dregs at the bottom of his glass. “Oh, I – uh, I dunno...” He trailed off, returning his gaze to his empty glass.

“Well why don’t you go and find out?” Katy chimed in, motioning in the general direction of the bar behind her.

Mat looked over at the crowded bar. The stranger was sat with a few other men, and as he watched, they all began laughing at a joke one of them had told. Watching the man’s face transform from mild interest to such joy was magic. His mouth spread wide to reveal a perfect set of teeth, dimples appearing in his cheeks and creases formed at the corners of his shimmering blue eyes to give him the most beautiful expression Mat had ever seen. He caught himself staring just before the man glanced at him, his laugh adjusting to a friendly smile. Mat returned his smile tentatively, feeling it grow into a full grin as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

 

The man’s chocolate, orb-like eyes were stunning, Ben found himself thinking. He could look at them all day, along with the adorable tousled mop of thick, lustrous, touchable curls that fell into his face. Ben longed to reach out and tuck it behind his ear, run his fingers through his dark hair-

“Ben!” Simon shouted in his ear. “’Nuthadrink?” he slurred. Ben reluctantly turned back to his friends and agreed to another round. He cast a look back over his shoulder, but the handsome stranger had also returned to his companions.

 

“I can’t just walk over there, he’s with other people,” Mat said.

“Well Jim’s still waiting for the drinks, why don’t you go and help him bring them over?” Katy said.

It was a good idea, Mat thought, but he couldn’t approach the bar without staring at his gorgeous man; he knew his eyes would end up wandering no matter how hard he willed them not to, and in close proximity that would just lead to awkwardness. He was perfectly comfortable just to stare across the room for now.

“What are you all whispering about?” Jim asked on his re-arrival, armed with fresh drinks. Katy gave Mat a look that clearly said ‘you missed you chance, don’t look at me like that.’  
Mat knew she was right. He stayed unusually quiet for the rest of the evening, only talking when he was spoken to. His full attention remained over at the bar, which slowly emptied as the hours wore on. But the stranger stayed with his companions until the pub was almost empty, the volume of their conversation staying as loud as ever despite the background noise dimming to a hum in the early hours of the morning. By 3am, the noise was getting to him, his head starting to hurt every time the raucous laughter flared up. He realised it may also be due to the several empty glasses in front of him on the table.

“I’m gonna get some fresh air,” Mat explained as he stood up, the blood rushing from his head making him dizzy. He gradually stumbled over to the door and felt a refreshing rush of cool air soothe his senses as he pulled it open and stepped outside.

Leaning against the wall he took a deep breath. His brain felt slow from the excess alcohol, but the crisp air cleared his head a little. He closed his eyes as he began to feel small drops of rain cooling his face and arms.

The longer he stood there, the clearer it became that he should get home. He’d had a lot t drink, and if he went back inside the pub for much longer his head may well explode.   
Plus, his heavy intoxication combined with the presence of that stunning stranger could lead to one of a whole manner of inappropriate actions on Mat’s part.

But then again, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Mat couldn’t really remember the last time he got some decent action, and if things went wrong he could always blame it on the drink...

While Mat contemplated this option, his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden light coming from the direction of the door that glowed bright through his eyelids. With this came loud and enthusiastic chatter that hurt his head just from the sheer volume of it. Mat screwed his eyes up tighter in discomfort, raising a hand to his ear in a feeble, tired attempt to block out the intrusive noise.

Completely without warning, a hand landed heavily on Mat’s shoulder, his knees buckling slightly under the unexpected force.

“Y’alright, mate?” an unfamiliar voice asked, sounding too close for Mat’s comfort.

Slowly, Mat opened his eyes to find the face of one of the men from the bar extremely close to his. His brain, in its slowed state, could not muster a suitable response, so he simply stared at the drunken randomer like a rabbit caught in headlights.

“Get out of the poor man’s face, Simon,” came a second voice to Mat’s right. The voiced soothed his ears; it was low and kind, and oddly posh. Mat smiled at that thought as the man in front of him was pulled away and was replaced by the one Mat had been staring after all evening.


	3. Chapter 3

His face was even more striking up close – a beautiful oval, topped with a slightly ruffled shock of silvery hair, soft pink lips that were curved into a shy smile, a straight nose and those amazing eyes, genuine and shining with concern, searching Mat’s eyes for any offence he may have felt at his friend’s unexpected appearance.

“You okay?” the man asked quietly.

Mat’s brain was still stuck in staring mode, but this time it was a stare of disbelief rather than alarm.

“Y-yeah, I guess,” he managed to stammer, after what seemed like an eternity. He forced himself o break his gaze – he knew that if he didn’t, he’d end up doing something stupid, and he couldn’t let himself shatter the fragile connection he felt between him and this gentle stranger.

“I’m Ben, by the way.” He held his hand out to Mat, smiling warmly. Mat smiled back and tentatively shook Ben’s outstretched hand, his smile quickly becoming a grin as the warmth of Ben’s touch flooded through him.

“Mat,” he replied, not letting go of Ben’s hand. He just couldn’t bring himself to.

 

Mat, Ben thought. That’s cute. Everything about this guy just oozed cute; his name, his sheepish smile, his gorgeous dark eyes staring into his...

“Come on, Ben, stop flirting already. We’ve got to get some rest for our first show tomorrow,” Simon called somewhat impatiently.

Ben felt Mat break the handshake hurriedly, shoving his hands deep in his pocket and averting his eyes from Ben’s own.

Ben’s hand dropped to his side with slight disappointment. He knew they had to leave, but did Simon always have to be so blunt?

“Well, I should, y’know... get going... Maybe see you around,” Ben muttered. Mat’s eyes flickered up briefly in acknowledgement but thereafter remained firmly trained on the ground. Ben sighed, He thought he’d felt something this time, that there had been a connection, but maybe it was just his imagination running wild. It wouldn’t have been the first time...

 

The feet Mat was staring at slowly started to make their way back to the cluster that had been waiting for their arrival. Mat continued to watch them as they made their way down the street – even when the trailing paused and turned back, Mat didn’t lift his head. He made himself resist. He wanted with all his heart to run to the retreating figure and pull him into his arms, never let him go. But he knew he shouldn’t.

As soon as the group was out of earshot, Mat exhaled and slid down the wall, hugging his knees as a silent tear rolled down his cheek.

He didn’t even really know why he was crying. Perhaps it was the thought that he would probably never see Ben again. Inside, he knew that shouldn’t mean anything; he didn’t even know him, wasn’t aware of his existence until tonight, but his emotions rocketed whenever he had too much to drink. And so he sat in the increasingly heavy rain with his increasingly heavy tears and after a while the two merged to form streams that rolled over the contours of his face, dripped from his nose and hair and soaked him to the core. He didn’t know how long he stayed there, but it seemed like a peaceful eternity before the final occupants of the pub eventually exited, including Mat’s companions.

Jim crouched down in front of Mat and gave him a tired smile. “Let’s get you home,” he said, offering a hand to help him stand up. As he slowly brought himself to his full height, Mat saw his other friends coming out of the protection of the doorway and opening up umbrellas. The two women peered cautiously out under the rims at the miserable weather.  
Then they caught sight of Mat. Katy sighed at him and offered him her umbrella, but he quietly refused.

 

Jim shook his head and took the umbrella off of Katy, who shuffled under Martha’s, and pulled Mat under it with him despite his objections. He’d not seen Mat look this much of a mess in a while – what could possibly have happened? He’d seemed happy enough in the pub earlier; he was smiling to himself most of the time they had been in there. But now it seemed like a completely different story. Jim was tempted to ask Mat what was wrong, but he wanted to see his friend happy more than he wanted to stick his nose in where it was likely not wanted.

“Ya know, I wasn’t gonna tell you this in case you got your hopes up too much,” Jim started, “but by the looks of it they can’t get much lower at the moment, so...” Mat looked at him expectantly. Jim cleared his throat. “Well, we’ve got a brand new company coming in tomorrow to run through a performance they’re going to put on for the next couple of weeks.” Jim paused, biting his lip as he tried to resolve the mental conflict as to whether he should tell Mat the other detail of tomorrow’s plans. As he glanced over, he noticed that Mat had turned his attention back to the ground. If Jim was going to get a smile out of him, he was going to have to continue. He took a deep breath.

“...And I asked the producer if he’d be willing to take on anyone new... He said maybe to start with, but to cut a long story short, I showed him a few videos of you in that Macbeth production we put on last year and he said he’d love to see more of you.”

Jim waited in anticipation for a response. He turned to look at Mat to get some idea of what he was thinking about this new information.

But he wasn’t there.

Jim stopped walking in his confusion and turned around to look behind him.

Mat was stood several paces behind him, a look of overwhelming shock on his face. Jim couldn’t help grinning.

“Are... are you serious?” Mat asked, sounding a little breathless, a smile spreading slowly across his features as the news settled in.

“Yeah, he really liked what he saw,” Jim replied.

And then Mat was running towards him and had soon engulfed him in a strong, if slightly wet, hug. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Mat squealed in Jim’s ear, so high that he could only just tell what his friend was actually saying.

“That’s okay,” Jim laughed. “It would never have happened without your ingenious take on Banquo – I’m glad I let you edit the script for that now, the producer loved you take on it. Well, he said it was ‘different’, but that he loved it all the same!”

Mat laughed at that, a slightly odd laugh, Jim noted, and when he pulled away from the hug he realised that it was because fresh tears were starting to make their way down Mat’s already damp cheeks, but this time he was grinning as well.

“I know I shouldn’t get over-excited,” Mat said, biting his lip and trying to regain his composure.

“Nah, I think you should,” Jim said, feeling content as his friend’s face lit up again. This is what friends are for, he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning sun shone bright through the gap in the curtains of the bedroom on the top floor of flat and across the cheap double bed, which appeared to be fully occupied despite the fact that only one person lay under the covers.

Mat lay on his front, sprawled out with his feet hanging over the edge and the duvet pulled right up over his head. Outside the duvet an alarm began to wail, and the cover moved   
as Mat pulled it over him a little further in an attempt to block out the incessant bleeping.

It didn’t work.

Reluctantly, Mat reached out the side of the bed and groped around on the bedside table until he found the snooze button. As the sound ceased, the duvet deflated slightly as Mat exhaled in relief.

He really didn’t want to get up. He was still hung over from last night; his head ached, his eyes stung when he tried to open them and his mouth tasted bitter. It ended up taking him a full half hour to get out of bed and into the shower.

When he finally forced himself to turn off the warm soothing jets of water, he grabbed a towel and made his way out of the bathroom. As soon as he opened the door, however, he stopped as his nostrils were filled with the scent of cooking bacon, salty and welcoming. He took deep sniffs of the wonderful smell, pausing when he realised the peculiarity of the situation.

Who the hell was cooking bacon in his flat?

He wrapped his towel tightly around his middle and made his way down the narrow corridor to the kitchen, the smell and confusion intensifying the closer he got.

When he reached the end of the hall, he could see that the kitchen door was slightly ajar. Nervously, he pushed it open, gently enough that it didn’t creak, and peered inside.  
He breathed a sigh of relief. Martha stood at the cooker with her back to him, frying pan in one hand and tongs in the other and she slipped the sizzling strips of bacon.

“I forgot I’ given you my spare key,” Mat said, waling in and taking a seat at the small table that dominated one end of the kitchen.

“Martha turned and smiled at him. “I thought you might need a hand recovering from last night,” she said as she placed the three rashers on a plate and placed it in front of him, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. “Everyone knows bacon is the best hangover food. Plus you need to be on your best form today.” Mat frowned. “Jim told us about this producer who wants to see you,” She explained, and Mat smiled as the end of the night returned to his memory. “Now come on, eat up! We’ve got to be at the theatre in half an hour; it takes 10 minutes just to get there and you don’t want to be late.”

Mat started wolfing down the hot bacon, realising just how hungry he’d been. The bacon tasted incredible, the fat perfectly crunchy and salty, but it was gone all too soon. He looked up from his plate to thank Martha and saw that she was attempting to organise one of the cupboards next to the cooker where plates had been shoved in at odd angles so they would fit.

“No!” Mat said, forgetting his thanks for the food. “Don’t start sorting my stuff out, I know where everything is,” he whined. “And anyway,” he continued when Martha gave him a look, “you know I’ll just make it all entropical again.”

“Entropical?” Martha smirked.

“Yeah, I think that’s the word... from entropy, meaning disorder.”

“Do you mean entropic?” Martha smiled. Mat sighed. “Okay, I won’t tidy up, but if it’s in this state again next time I come over I’ll get Kin and Aggie in, I swear.”

“That’d be cool, I could steal one of their awesome pairs of washing up gloves...”

“Honestly, Mat, stop fantasising about your next fancy dress outfit and go put some clothes on,” Martha said sounding exasperated. Mat glanced down and realised he was still in his towel. “You’ve got 10 minutes till we need to be out the door, mush.”

“Right, sorry.”

Martha smiled at him at him as he made his way out of the kitchen.

“Aren’t you going to thank me for the bacon?” she called down the corridor.

“Oh yeah,” came the reply. “Can you do me a coffee as well?”


	5. Chapter 5

Jim was just opening the theatre when Martha and Mat arrived. He looked very excited as he waved them over and pushed them through the door.

Once they were inside, he started talking extremely fast.

“Right then, the new company are due to be arriving for 10 o’clock – that’s half an hour – so we need to get this place looking decent. Martha, you make sure everything in the office looks relatively organised, that’s the first place they’ll see – actually, they’ll see the entrance hall before that, so Mat, take the hoover round here then make backstage look as presentable as possible, which I know isn’t that presentable, but give it a go; Martha, if you give him a hand once you’re done in the office that’s be great. I’ll go round the dressing rooms and makes sure all the names on the doors are right – we don’t want the actors to have the wrong dressing rooms or anything – and then I’ll check through all the paperwork and such, make sure I know their name considering I’ve never actually met them, only spoken on the phone, while you two put the kettle on for when they finally get here.”

Martha and Mat just stared. Jim was never this organised. This obviously meant a lot to him, and they couldn’t blame him really; they barely ever got new colleagues, and his enthusiasm was so obvious that Mat couldn’t resist grinning and hugging his boss.

Caught up in the moment, Jim hugged him back, but soon broke the hug to hurry them off to their preparatory tasks.

Jim’s enthusiasm was contagious; Mat found himself speed-vacuuming and arranging costumes with unnatural efficiency. Within 20 minutes, the whole backstage area was sparkling and tidy. Admiring his work, Mat couldn’t believe that he’d actually tidied up. And it was satisfying. Maybe he could do this round the flat as well; it was pretty messy...  
Nah, he thought. Effort.

He dashed towards the small kitchen to start on the tea when he collided with Martha in the doorway that led onto the corridor.

“Sorry, sorry! I was coming to help you tidy-” She stared around the room in utter disbelief. “Mat... did you do all this?”

He grinned as she turned her flabbergasted expression towards him.

“Wow.”

Then her expression turned from one of wonder to one of smug conspiracy. “So you do have the capacity to clean. Maybe you should apply this newfound skill to your domestic life,” she grinned.

“Very funny,” Mat smiled back. “Come on, let’s get the kettle on,” he said, pulling her back into the corridor.

***

The kettle took ages to boil. Mat had filled it right to the top so they could just about make five mugs of tea (though he wasn’t sure how many they actually needed) while Martha prepped the mug with their very own teabag. They sat back and waited for the rumbles that meant the water was boiling.

“So,” Martha began, hopping onto a stool that stood in the middle of the kitchen, “what actually happened last night?”

Mat, perched on the counter, looked up at her. There was genuine concern in her eyes. Mat knew he could trust her – they’d been friends for years. Yet something made him want to be more secretive about the events of the previous evening,

“He was called Ben,” Mat said, avoiding the main question as best he could. He looked at the floor, trying to hint to Martha that he wasn’t in the mood for sharing details. But he could feel her expectant gaze on him and he knew that he had no real reason to withhold information.

“He introduced himself outside the pub and we shook hands... for a while, actually.” He smiled to himself at the memory. “But then one of his mates told him to stop flirting and it got really awkward and I couldn’t face it so when he said he might see me around I didn’t say anything witty or intelligent, I just stood there and watched him go. Anyway, I’ll probably never see him again, so it doesn’t matter anymore...”

Mat looked up at Martha. She sighed, got up from her stool, walked over to where he sat and wrapped her arms around him. He returned the embrace, grateful that he’d told someone what had been in the back of his mind while he’d tried to distract himself with tidying and vacuuming earlier.

“But it matters to you, I can tell,” Martha said, gripping his shoulders and looking into his eyes. “There’s someone out there for you, Mat, I can tell. If this Ben is the one, you’ll see him again.”

Mat smiled sadly at her. “I really want him to be.”

Behind him the violent earthquake of the kettle started up so he jumped down from the worktop.

“Shotgun kettle!” Mat yelled.

“Damn,” Martha said.

Whenever they made tea they split the roles; one on pouring water and the other on stirring and removing the teabag. Of the two, stirring was, by far, the more laborious task, so there was always a competition to see who’d get in there first.

“How are things with Alex these days?” Mat casually enquired as he made his way down the line of mugs with the kettle.

“Fine, I haven’t seen him in a couple of days but that’s because he’s been away on business,” Martha replied, chucking a teabag across the room and into the bin by the door.

“I’d forgotten how much of a ninja you were when it came to making tea,” Mat grinned, watching her repeat the action immaculately for every teabag in the row of mugs. When she finished, she turned to Mat and smiled proudly.

“Some applause would be nice,” she added, and Mat started clapping over-enthusiastically. Martha laughed and reached into the fridge, pulling out a carton of milk and filling a jug. “Right, let’s get this on a tray and drop one off in Jim’s office, he could probably do with one.”

***

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

“We brought you tea,” Martha smiled.

Jim ran a hand through his messy hair and looked up from the papers in front of him.

“Thanks, I could do with an energy boost,” he smiled back, taking a mug from the tray and adding a dash of milk.

“I should get back to the office, double-check everything’s okay and make sure someone’s there if they arrive early,” Martha said. “See you in five?”

Jim nodded and she hurried off down the hall. He turned to Mat, who remained in the office doorway with the teatray.

“Everything looking good backstage?”

Mat nodded.

“Right, I think I’ve got all their names straight. Or rather as straight as I can get them in this state. Why the hell am I so nervous, Mat?”

“I don’t know; you’re usually so calm. Drink up, maybe you’ll feel better for it,” Mat replied.

Jim took a long gulp and sat back in his chair. “You know, I think it’s because your career is be depending on this whole thing as well. I’m sorry if everything goes badly, mate. I’ll do my best.”

Mat was shocked at how much this seemed to matter to Jim. Shocked and flattered. He put down the tray and placed a hand on his boss’s shoulder. “Hey. Relax. You can’t do anything wrong. You’re brilliant at what you do. It’s up to me whether this goes well for me or not. I’m eternally grateful that you managed to get me this far in the first place. So try and stop worrying, okay?”

Jim returned Mat’s smile and finished his tea in one chug.

“Right, let’s go,” he said, standing up, flattening his hair as best he could and marching out of the office. Mat followed hurriedly, picking up the tray and closing the office door on his way out.

As Mat made his way down the corridor, he started to feel extremely nervous. He was about to meet his potential future colleagues and first impressions were hard to erase. He glanced down at himself – he was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. Could he get any more generic? He took a deep breath to calm himself. Everything was going to be fine.  
Up ahead, Mat could hear Jim’s welcoming and slightly surprised voice. A reply to his greeting came and Jim was soon laughing with the stranger. There was no denying it; Jim was so good at this kind of thing.

Mat slowed as he neared the end of the corridor. He vaguely recognised the stranger’s voice, like he should know who it belonged to but the face lingered just out of reach...

Then another voice chimed into the conversation and there it was. The unmistakeable tone, the hint of poshness...

Mat stepped out into the foyer compulsively, stumbling slightly in his nervous haste but managing to keep control of the tray in his hands. He glanced down to make sure nothing had spilt, becoming suddenly aware that all the chattering that had filled the room moments ago had ceased.

Slowly, Mat raised his head.

And there he stood, staring at Mat with amazed disbelief flickering in his clear blue eyes.

Ben.


	6. Chapter 6

The silence was too much for anyone to take. Eventually Jim cleared his throat.

“Ah... Mr Farnaby, this is Mathew Baynton. I’m sure you’ll recognise him from the videos I sent you.”

Mat tore his gaze away from Ben and turned his attention to the man Jim had spoken to. He couldn’t help the small smile that formed at the corners of his mouth. It was the man from last night; Simon, he thought Ben had called him. Mat smiled properly and walked over, balancing the tray on his leg and extending a hand out to Simon Farnaby.

Simon looked a little shocked as well. He managed a smile in return and shook Mat’s outstretched hand. “Yes... I watched them last week, but I must admit you look very different with a beard,” Simon said, with a small laugh.

“Well, it’s great to meet you, ah... properly,” Mat said.

There was another moment of awkward quiet before Jim suggested that they move to the meeting room. Voices flared up in consent and Jim led the way down the corridor.  
Mat let the new group pass before him (at which point he realised there were five of them in total) and then glanced over at the office off to the side of the foyer where Martha had been watching the whole situation. She gave him a thumbs up and he smiled back before following the group.

When they got into the meeting room Mat placed the tray in the middle of the table and, after a quick headcount, realised that they two mugs of tea short.

“Ah, Jim,” he whispered to his boss. “Shall I do some more tea?”

“Nah, we need you here to talk,” Jim replied. Mat took a seat at the table next to him and waited expectantly for someone to start the conversation.

After a second, Simon spoke.

“Shall we all introduce ourselves, then?” he said. A few nods followed, so he continued. “Well, I’m Simon Farnaby; I’m the producer and manager of Lion Dramatics.” He turned to   
woman sat next to him. Mat’s eyes followed as everyone introduced themselves:

“I’m Dominique Moore and I’m Mr Farnaby’s assistant,” she said, somewhat over-cheerfully.

“I’m Jalaal Hartley, I’m an actor,” the next man said.

“I’m Larry Rickard and I’m in make-up,” said a very enthusiastic man next to Jalaal who turned to the next person with a look of adoration on his face.

“I’m Ben Willbond, I’m an actor too.”

Mat gulped as Ben’s eyes met his across the table and then quickly looked down at his hands.

 

Ben smiled internally.

There was that spark he’d felt last night. There was hope after all. He didn’t know what it was about Mat but he wanted to be with him, or at least get to know him. So far he seemed pretty shy sober, but Ben had a feeling that if Mat was more relaxed and comfortable he’d be a lot more lively. Ben couldn’t blame him for being nervous – he remembered when he’d applied for his first main role and he’d been petrified. As Ben watched Mat introduce himself to the group those memories flooded back and Ben had very a strong urge to climb over the table right then and hug Mat, tell him from here everything would get better.

But he resisted.

“Well, now that everyone’s been introduced, shall we show you round the place?”

Jim’s voice made Ben snap out of it. The group stood up and began to file out of the room. Ben hung back slightly so that he could try and get a conversation out of Mat. They walked down the corridor at the back of the group in a slightly awkward silence until it was obvious to Ben that he’d be the one to commence the talking.

“So... Mat,” Ben started, his heart fluttering when Mat turned to look at him. “Ah... how are you feeling after last night?”

The smile that tugged at the corner of Mat’s lips confirmed what Ben had assumed; they’d both been there at the pub last night and remembered each other.

“Not too bad, I’ve had worse nights to be honest,” Mat replied. “I’m surprised Simon’s so focused, he seemed pretty out of it.”

Ben laughed. “Yeah, he was, but he’s like that most nights really. He’s used to it.”

Mat laughed along with Ben before another awkward silence settled over them. That was successful, Ben thought sarcastically. He was almost sure they were thinking about the   
same thing; outside the pub last night. He knew he had to say something about it, otherwise it would remain an unspoken occasion between them forever.

“Hey, look, about last-”

“It’s fine,” Mat smiled, though Ben sensed that something was wrong. Ben frowned at him, concerned that his friendship with Mat was already off to a bad start.

“Are you sure? I don’t want any misunderstanding between us or anything,” he said, stepping hesitantly towards Mat.

“Okay then, so that we’re clear, what Simon said about-”

“Yeah, I wasn’t – I mean not that I wouldn’t-”

“’Cause I just thought – wait, what?”

“Well-”

“Did you just-”

“I didn’t mean to – I mean, I could potentially-”

“Yeah, well potentially I might – you know-”

“Um, yeah I thought so, but-”

“-but I wasn’t sure-”

“-sure if you were-”

“...”

“...”

“...yeah.”

For a moment they just stood in the corridor looking at each other, contemplating what to say next. With flushing cheeks Ben realised how close they were standing. He could hear Mat’s steady breathing in the quiet corridor. He could just lean in and- Hang on, quiet corridor? There were seven people in the group of them all, why couldn’t he hear a conversation or at least footste-

Oh.

Looking up the corridor Ben saw what had happened to the rest of the group. They stood facing the pair of them, watching with slightly bewildered expressions. Simon looked truly confused. But Jim Howick looked severe.

 

Mat followed Ben startled gaze and was met by an intense warning look from Jim. Mat knew doing anything else could jeopardise his future. Yet every inch of him wanted to lean forward into Ben – Simon didn’t even look like he knew what was going on anyway, he could so easily-

No. Against his heart’s will, he stepped away and continued down the corridor, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. As the others continued walking, he glanced back.

The look Ben gave him was too much for Mat to handle. His eyes betrayed his disappointment, but also held a hint of shame. Just as Ben tore his eyes away, Ben mouthed one word: sorry.


	7. Chapter 7

Larry looked around him as they entered the theatre. This place was pretty big – and the stage was huge. Lights framed the vast platform in a multitude of colours. On either side of him a sea of red seats flowed down to the front of the auditorium. It was, quite simply, beautiful. He turned to comment to Ben, but he couldn’t see him anywhere. Was he still in the corridor?

He made his way back towards the door they’d come through. On his way through the doorway, Mat came the other way giving him a friendly smile as he passed. Larry smiled   
back automatically – it was hard not to; Mat’s smile was so warm and welcoming that it felt impolite if you didn’t return it.

But in the corridor, no such smile lingered. Ben was walking slowly towards the door with his head down, and Larry knew he needed a friend, for whatever reason. Or maybe more than a friend, you never know...

Larry shook the thought out of his head. For now, no matter what he wanted, he was a friend. So, as a friend, he walked up to Ben and gently placed a hand on his arm.

“What’s up?” he asked.

Ben looked up, his expression softening to a small smile.

“Hey Laz,” he said. “I’m okay, just a bit tired still from last night.”

Larry nodded knowingly. He could tell something else was up, but didn’t push it. “Come and see the auditorium, it’s massive.”

Ben seemed to brighten at that. Larry grabbed his arm and pulled him the rest of the way down the corridor.

 

Mat was vaguely aware of Jim talking about the theatre as they made their way across the stage, but his concentration was elsewhere. He was watching Larry re-enter the theatre with Ben in tow. Something twinged inside him as they grinned at each other running between the rows. He knew that he shouldn’t really think anything of it – it was none of his business, and who was he to come between what appeared to already be a relationship. But it still hurt, especially with the way Ben had acted towards him.

As they reached the stage, the pair were out of breath. Mat put on a smile and they walked together backstage where everyone else had already continued to.

They passed through the only room Mat had ever cleaned and onto the dressing rooms. The rest of the group stopped to look inside one of them, but Mat, completely on impulse, leant over to Ben and asked, “Do you want to see your dressing room? It’s way better than the one they’re looking at.”

“Sure,” Ben grinned.

Mat wasn’t sure why he felt the urge to flirt so obviously; maybe he just wanted to make it clear how he felt the situation between them should be. Maybe something about seeing Ben with Larry made him want to fight back and show that he wanted and deserved a chance. All he knew for certain was that it felt good.

 

Ben followed Mat down the hall to a door with his name proud on the front. Mat stepped to the side and motioned to the door handle.

“After you,” Mat said.

Ben smiled again and twisted the handle, opening the door wide.

His mouth dropped.

He faced a large room with multiple luxurious leather chairs in front of a broad mirror with a ledge before it sporting a mini-fridge. To add to the effect, the mirror was surrounded by colour-changing lights. One corner of the room was blocked off by a black curtain for changing behind and one white and blue starry wall was lined with various props and makeup cabinets. Photos or various cityscapes lined the other three blue walls. But the best part by far was the glitter ball that hung from the ceiling casting rainbows across the room.

Ben stepped into his new dressing room, taking in every detail with a look of wonder on his face. He turned to Mat who had followed in behind him.

“Wow,” Ben gasped.

Mat smiled proudly. God he’s cute, Ben thought. He wanted to ruffle his already messy hair and cuddle him forever. He could just tell he was one of those people who gave really good hugs. But instead he took a seat in front of the mirror and settled into the comfiest chair he had ever sat in. Mat plopped down in the one next to him and spun the chair to face him.

“So you like it?” Mat asked.

“Yeah, who wouldn’t?” Ben replied.

“Well, hopefully one day I can get good enough to have the best dressing room,” Mat said casually, glancing around the room.

Ben found himself putting a hand on Mat’s arm. “I’m sure you will, I’ve seen those videos and from what I can tell you’re really good,” Ben smiled.

Mat looked straight into Ben’s eyes, a longing for truth deep in his gaze. “Do you really mean that? I mean, it’s not that I don’t trust you, I’ve just been told that so many times but this is the first time I’ve had any kind of offer in years. So I’ve started to just go with what they say but I haven’t actually believed it for a while.”

Ben was amazed at how deeply this seemed to affect Mat. He turned to fully face him and took both of Mat’s hand in each of his. He returned the truthful gaze and tried not to get too lost in those heavenly minstrel orbs.

“Well believe me. When I saw what you did with Banquo I knew you were something different, something nobody had ever seen before. And most people don’t want to go with something like that because it can be seen as risky – but don’t listen to them. Simon’s good at spotting potential; he’s practically agreed to have you on board already. Just try and relax for the rest of today and be yourself, that’s the side of you he needs to see now. And even though I’m only just getting to know you, I know you’re just what we need. Believe me.”

 

Mat could only stare. Stare like he had last night, but this time it was personal. He felt Ben’s words sink into him, his eyes draw him in closer. His hands tightened on Ben’s   
subconsciously and he saw something flicker in his eyes before he felt his hands squeeze back. He found himself lean closer, saw Ben lean closer too-

Click.

They jumped apart as the door opened behind them. Larry stood in the doorway with a relieved look on his face.

“There you are – I looked into the first dressing room but when I turned around you’d just disappeared.” He looked between them and his expression turned into one of confusion. “Sorry, did I interrupt something?”


	8. Chapter 8

Ben regained his composure enough to tell Larry that no, everything was fine and that they’d be through in a minute after he’d had a proper look round the dressing room.

“It is a nice room, isn’t it?” Larry said, coming in and inspecting the makeup cabinets. Ben put his face in his hands and took a deep breath. Didn’t Larry ever get a hint?

“Whoa! They’ve got twice as much makeup in here as I’ve got in my house!” Larry squealed behind him. “I could get used to this. You’re going to look utterly fabulous for this production, Ben Willbond.”

Ben glanced up at Mat, who was giggling silently. Their eyes met briefly and Ben couldn’t resist the smirk he gave in return. He tried his best not to laugh at Larry, but when he got over-excited it was hard not to.

Mat cleared his throat and attempted to keep a straight face. “So what is this production you guys are putting on?”

“It’s a modern version of Twelfth Night,” Larry replied. “We haven’t finalised the casting yet, but it’s looking as if Mr Willbond will be getting a leading role yet again,” He added, turning and grinning enthusiastically at Ben.

He smiled back, feeling a little embarrassed especially after Mat had just told him that he’d waited an entire lifetime for an opportunity such as the one Ben gets frequently. The feeling increased as Larry continued.

“You know, I can’t remember the last time you had a small part. But then again,” he added, leaning in to whisper in Ben’s ear, “nothing about you is small.”

Ben’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect Larry to say anything like that, especially not in the presence of Mat. Why was he being like this? He’d been absolutely fine yesterday. All of a sudden, today he was pulling him down corridors, following him more closely and saying things like that. And the only thing that had changed was-

Shit.

Larry was jealous of Mat.

 

Mat watched Ben’s expression with mixed feelings. For one thing, it confirmed to him that Larry had said what he thought he had. But for another, it clearly showed Ben was alarmed by what he’d said. Or at least that it was thoroughly unexpected; alarmed was probably a bit hopeful.

As a result of weighing up the possible interpretations of the situation, Mat cleared his throat loudly “Well, I think we should go and find out where everyone else has got to.”

Ben responded by nodding enthusiastically while Larry simply shrugged compliantly, leading out of the room. Mat started to follow before Ben could get in there first – he wanted to stay between the pair to make sure he didn’t have to witness any flirting between them as a result of Larry’s comment.

But before Mat could get out of the door, Ben had grabbed his wrist in an iron-strong grip. Mat span round to tell him to let go, but found his lips occupied by the sudden crushing passion of Ben’s own. Almost without hesitation, Mat returned the pressure and wrapped his arms around his neck in a way that suggested that he had no intention of letting go. He stepped back willingly as Ben pushed him towards the half-open door until it slammed shut behind him leaving them alone together.

Ben’s hand made its way up Mat’s back and neck before winding into his hair, leaving a tingling trail in its wake. Failing to suppress a small moan, Mat pulled Ben’s body hard against his own and tightened his grip on him. In immediate reply, the movement and intensity of Ben’s lips increased until, with great reluctance, they pulled apart to catch their breath.

Mat bit his lip as he looked up into Ben’s yearning eyes. He still couldn’t get over their beauty, even the dark eyelashes that framed them which he knew Martha would kill for.  
“So does this mean there’s nothing going on between you and Larry?” Mat asked between breaths.

Ben smiled. “Never has been, never will be as long as you’re around.”

“What if I go on holiday for a week?” Mat joked.

“You know what I mean,” Ben said, not quite able to suppress the smirk that took control of his features. “Larry and I are just friends; that’s all it’s ever been.”

“Does he know that?” Mat asked.

“He should do, I’ve never led him on.” Mat wasn’t convinced. “Stop worrying already, I’m not planning on going anywhere,” he added as he resumed the kiss.

 

Larry withdrew from the door and leaned against the wall beside it, sighing heavily. Never led him on? He begged to differ. It didn’t matter now anyhow – he’d gone too far earlier. He’d been wondering whether the comment he made a minute ago would go in his favour. It probably wasn’t the best idea to say it in front of Mat of all people. What did you do, Laz? Did you really think you had a chance in the first place? Oh well. At least he knew how things stood in Ben’s eyes now.

Beside him, a click indicated that the door was being opened, so he hurried off down the corridor before he was confronted with an extremely awkward situation.


	9. Chapter 9

“Tell me everything,” Martha demanded as Mat entered her office with two steaming mugs of tea and a massive smile on his face.

And Mat did. He couldn’t help himself – he told her every detail, and she shared in his excitement at every moment. He was so glad he had a friend like Martha – he didn’t know what he’d do without her.

When he’d finished, she jumped up and gave him a massive hug.

“Oh Mat, I’m so happy for you!” she squealed.

He just grinned back, unable to muster a suitable reply in his state of happiness.

“This may be a suitable time to tell you that Alex is having a another party soon and he says to bring as many people as I want, so you could bring Ben if you both fancy it,” Martha said.

Mat bit his lip, deliberating. “I’d love to, but it might make things between us seem all official. When’s it going to be?”

“This weekend,” Martha replied. “You can wait until the end of the week to ask so you know whether you want to make it ‘official’.”

“Yeah, okay,” Mat glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Crap, it’s the end of my break. See you later,” he said, giving Martha another brief hug before dashing out the office and through the double doors into the theatre.

As one set of doors closed, another opened up on the opposite side of the foyer bringing Sarah through them in a tangle of bags and an umbrella.

“I’m not late, am I?” she asked Martha as she stumbled over to the office hatch whilst attempting to close her dripping umbrella.

“No, I think they’re only just starting again. They’re in the auditorium,” she added.

Sarah looked relieved. “Can I leave these bags here for now? They’re all the props I was working on last night.”

“Sure, shall I keep them in here for now so they can dry by the radiator?”

“Yes please,” Sarah replied as Martha came round to meet her. “You’re a diamond, Martha. Thank you so much.”

Martha smiled. “No problem. Before you go in you might want to run a brush through your hair quickly, first impressions and all. The wind’s got it looking pretty wild.”  
Sarah simply shrugged. “Who says wild isn’t the impression I want to make?”

 

Mat had just settled down in the stage when Sarah came dashing into the auditorium and up the steps to join them.

“Ah, Sarah! Come and join us; these are the people from Lion Dramatics I was telling you about,” Jim said, introducing them as she shook their hands one by one. She then sat down between Jim and Simon – a little closer to Simon than was really appropriate, Mat thought.

But then again, he was sitting a little closer to Ben than was probably appropriate. At least he had an excuse – Sarah had only just met them all.

Ben seemed to sense that something was going on with Sarah too and glanced at Mat, eyebrows raised. Mat gave a small shrug in reply and they both resorted to watching Sarah’s actions throughout the conversation.

This was a very entertaining thing to watch. Mostly Simon and Jim went through props and costume plans, and seeing as Sarah was involved in props she had a right to comment from time to time, but, to put it mildly, she went a bit OTT. She even dropped multiple innuendos and flirtatious hints in Simon’s direction despite Jim trying to stop her numerous times, but Simon just joined in with her. Eventually, Jim gave up and let them have their own conversation.

“You can’t really blame her for being so chatty and improper, Jim, this is one of the most informal business meetings I’ve ever seen,” Mat said. And he was right; they were all sat cross-legged in a rough circle on the stage of an empty theatre. Nothing very official-looking about it. But that was nice. The colloquialism made it easier for Mat to relax and be himself, so much so that he started up a conversation with Jalaal on the spur of the moment.

“So, Jalaal, how did you get into acting?” Mat asked cheerfully.

 

Jalaal was a little taken aback that he was being spoken to directly – he’d barely said a word all day.

“Um, my parents were big in the industry so I’ve been brought up with it. I’ve been in a few stage productions before but I only graduated a few years ago, so I’ve still got a lot of experience to gain I guess. So far I’ve only played minor roles, but hopefully I can get a decent role with this company and get some lead parts.” Phew. He hadn’t realised he’d been wanting to tell someone all of that until now – he hadn’t even told Simon Farnaby much of his background; he’d just taken him on after seeing him in one production and   
not said much to him since. Maybe he could be better friends with Mat. “So um... how about you?”

“Oh I’ve been in a couple of shows we’ve put on here but nothing other than that. Apart from playing the donkey in nativity,” he laughed. Jalaal laughed too – he felt comfortable enough to despite barely knowing Mat. It was a good feeling; he was going to have friends here, he could tell.

 

“Well, I’ve been in loads of things,” Dominique interjected out of nowhere.

“Like what?” Mat asked.

“Stage shows – I was Mary Seacole in a historical play one time; TV shows like Hotel Trubble and My Almost Famous Family–”

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you now Simon’s assistant?”

“Oh... I haven’t much in the way of acting jobs recently, apart from some minor Lion Dramatics roles, so I’ve taken up the assistant role until I get some more offers,” she replied, slightly less bubbly than she started off.

Mat felt a bit bad for dampening her spirits. “Hang on,” he said. “Thinking about it, I recognise you from Hotel Trubble when my nephew was watching it. You’re really good! That was on CBBC, right?” She nodded. “”You’ll be fine then, the BBC never forget good actors.”

Dominique smiled at that, and Ma smiled too. Makin others feel better always made him feel better too.

As their conversation came to a pause, Mat realised that Sarah and Simon’s had stopped too. He looked over to see Simon smiling at him in an approving way. Was that why Simon went along with Sarah’s chat? Had he just wanted to see Mat relaxed? Huh. Smart.

“So!” Simon announced, talking to everyone now. “Casting. I’ve pretty much finalised it, but I need to check it over with Jim before I tell you all, so we’ll announce it tomorrow. There’ll be a couple more people coming in as well as we need enough people for the parts, so I’ll be ringing a few people from our contacts before I go out to the pub tonight. We can get fully acquainted in the morning and start rehearsals in the afternoon. Other than that, I think we’re pretty much done here for today.”

And with that, the group got to their feet and headed towards the exit.

In the foyer, Simon declared that tomorrow night they would all go out for drinks together to celebrate the casting. This was met by enthusiastic cheers of consent before   
everyone shook hands with one another once again and began to depart.

Larry approached Mat tentatively and offered a hand. Mat shook it, but he sensed there was something he wanted to say as he bit his lip and looked around. After a couple of awkward moments, Larry leaned towards him and looked him in the eye, worry clear in his expression.

“Just- just look after him,” he said to Mat in a low voice. “You’re a nice guy, I trust you, but promise me you won’t hurt him.”

Mat took a few seconds to muster a reply. “I promise. I have absolutely no intention of hurting him whatsoever, believe me.”

Larry looked at him a moment longer, then withdrew his gaze and attempted to return to his usual bouncy state. “Good. Right. Well, great meeting you. See you tomorrow!” And he dashed out the door.

Mat stared after him for a second, still trying to fully process what just happened.

Sarah waved a hand in front of his face moment later. “Cooey! Mat?”

Mat blinked several times and looked at her.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“Nothing, just... Larry,” Mat finished lamely.

“Yeah, he is a bit odd, isn’t he?”

“Mmm...”

“Anyway, well done earlier.”

“Huh?”

“You did exactly what Si wanted.”

“Si? Are you two on nickname terms already?”

“Me and Si? Oh, you actually thought we had a thing going! Is my acting that good? No, we’ve known each other since college. We were in the same year and have been mates ever since. When he found out I worked here he asked if I’d break the tension a bit and start separate conversations so he could see you relaxed. Seemed to work as well,” Sarah grinned.

“I thought something was going on, but I had no idea you were in on it,” Mat admitted.

“Well, my acting skills are obviously far superior to your skills of acting detection,” she said cheekily.

Mat laughed, and she just stuck her tongue out at him in reply before going into the office to retrieve her props.

 

Ben watched Sarah finish her conversation with Mat with growing nervousness. Just ask him, he thought to himself.

Before it was too late, he was walking over to Mat and tapping him on the shoulder. Mat turned around and his face immediately transformed into a gorgeous smile, making Ben’s stomach flip.

“Um... d’you wanna go get some coffee or something? I know it’s a bit of a weird time for coffee – it’s more like dinner time – we could – no... Well yeah, we could get dinner if you want, but that might sound – does that sound a bit, um, forward? – I dunno, what do you... think?”

Great work, Ben. Why was he suddenly so flustered? He’d been fine around Mat the rest of the day. Ish.

The shy smile that Mat gave him in return made him feel a little less stupid, for some reason.

“Well, it’s only five thirty. I usually eat pretty late so it’s coffee time for me,” Mat answered.

“Oh, okay, yeah – good,” Ben finished with a relieved smile and flushed cheeks.

“Let me just check that Jim doesn’t want any help locking up and then we can go,” Mat said.

“Sure.” Ben held Mat’s gaze for a few more moments until Mat forced himself to pull his eyes away and go talk to Jim.

Ben breathed out steadily. Calm down, you’ve been for coffee with guys before; there’s nothing to worry about. Only everything felt different with Mat, suddenly like it was a brand new experience again.

“Psst!”

Ben turned around and saw a blonde woman leaning through the hatch to the office. He slowly walked over to see what she wanted.

“Are you Ben? What am I talking about, of course you’re Ben. Stop looking so worried, you’ll be fine, Mat was telling me everything on his break and he’s totally into you. Don’t look worried at that, either, we tell each other everything, we’ve been friends for years, but he won’t tell me any dirty details if anything happens tonight so don’t let me stop you. Sorry, I’m rambling. I didn’t even tell you my name. I’m Martha,” she finished, extending a hand for Ben to shake.

“Um, okay?” he smiled, looking slightly bewildered as he shook her hand.

Martha glanced over to where Mat was stood with Jim. “Quick, he’s coming! Now, go get ‘em!” she winked playfully before retreating back into the office.

Ben turned back to see Mat approaching, feeling slightly baffled at the conversation he’d just had. If you could even call it a conversation; more like some speech.

“Shall we go then?” Mat asked, shrugging a coat on.

“Yeah,” Ben smiled. “Uh, do you know any good cafes? I don’t go for coffee very often,” Ben laughed nervously.

Mat smiled warmly. “Loads.” He hooked his arm round Ben’s elbow casually. “Come on, I’ll show you.”


	10. Chapter 10

It was still drizzling outside when Ben and Mat left. Ben pulled a hat out of his jacket and pulled it onto his head. It was one of those fluffy ones with ear flaps – and when Mat noticed it, he just laughed.

“Ben, that’s not going to help you much, especially if the rain gets heavier,” he giggled, reaching up and snatching it off of his head. “Besides, it suits me better,” he added, placing it over his already damp hair.

“Oi! Hats suit me too, thank you very much,” Ben laughed, attempting to reclaim his hat – but Mat was too quick. They ended up wrestling and tickling each other in the middle of the pavement for a couple of minutes until Ben managed to grab it back and run off down the road with Mat in hot pursuit. Just as Mat reached him he stashed it inside his jacket again. Mat pouted in disapproval.

“I’ll get that hat off of you eventually,” he promised with a grin.

Ben grinned back at him, “Not on my watch. Now, where are we going for this coffee?”

Mat pointed down the road. “A couple of blocks further. It’s a really cute place, one of my mates who was at the pub last night works there, but I dunno when her shifts are. We might bump into her.”

“Okay,” Ben replied, a little disappointed on the inside; he’d hoped it would just be him and Mat.

At that moment, the sky opened up and huge raindrops began falling all around them and adding to the puddles at the side of the road so that when a car passed, even at a relatively low speed, it created a tidal wave that drenched both men from head to toe.

“Told you the hat wouldn’t help,” Mat grinned.

Mat was a sight. His usually bouncy think hair lay in dark straight sodden sheets over his face. Ben couldn’t resist stepping closer and brushing the hair out of his face. Their eyes locked and Ben’s hand lingered by Mat’s face. For a long moment they just stood there, taking each other in; Mat, with rain dripping from his nose and his long eyelashes, from behind which his dark luxurious irises peeked shyly at Ben, whose cheeks were pink despite the cold rain and whose blue eyes shone out at Mat in the gathering dark.

Mat felt Ben’s hand slowly move to cup his cheek. He bit his lip as Ben’s thumb stroked his cheekbone then raised his hand to Ben’s face, mirroring his action. He saw a smile tug at the corner of Ben’s mouth and they moved together as one, their lips meeting amidst their embrace. Mat could hear his heart rate increasing but barely noticed it; it was nothing compared to Ben’s. Mat could feel it through their wet shirts, beating into his own chest, stabilising his racing mind so that he was suddenly aware of everything in the moment; the soft lips caressing his, the arms cradling him tenderly, the hands entangled in his hair and t-shirt, the heavy rain persistently hammering on his head but doing nothing to reduce the intense heat between him and Ben.

Another car drove past, soaking them again, but rather than drawing apart, the two held each other closer. The passion of Mat’s kiss increased, begging for more, and Ben returned it willingly, surrendering to his urges and ignoring the voices in the back of his head telling him to take things slowly. In fact, he completely rebelled against them and broke the kiss to lean in close to Mat’s ear.

“Shall we forget the coffee?” he said in a low voice.

“God, yes,” came the immediate reply.

Mat grabbed Ben’s hand and pulled him down the road at full pelt. Ben had trouble keeping up sometimes, having to apologise to other pedestrians as he stumbled through huge puddles, but him pausing to say sorry only resulted in Mat pulling him more vigorously in his excitement and in the end they toppled together into the biggest puddle yet and lay laughing despite the complaints fired in their direction from the other individuals on the pavement beside them.

Once they managed to stop laughing, Mat and Ben helped each other up and resumed their running. Ben wasn’t even sure where they were going; he’d just gone with the moment and let Mat lead the way. But just as he was about to ask, they turned into a narrow alleyway and up a spiral metal staircase. Ben didn’t even have time to think about how dangerous and rickety the steps seemed before they’d reached the top, breathless and grinning.

They took a few moments to catch their breath, then Mat reached into his coat pocket and drew out a bunch of keys.

“Home sweet home,” Mat grinned as he opened the door to his flat and took Ben’s hand, leading the way in.


	11. Chapter 11

The best way to describe Mat’s flat was a bombsite. Odds and ends lay all over the place, but Ben didn’t mind one little bit. His own house was impeccably organised, and it was nice to meet someone who it seemed didn’t feel the need to keep everything in perfect order, who felt that other areas of their life were worth more or their attention than the tidiness of their flat. In a weird way, Mat’s messy flat just made Ben fancy him even more.

 

Mat looked around the hallway of his flat. Martha had been right; he really should tidy up more often. He turned to apologise to Ben, but was stopped by a finger placed on his lips.

“Don’t apologise, it’s who you are; and I think it’s cute,” Ben aid, cutting off any response with a kiss.

Mat decided against any response that inquired as to how his mess was cute. “If you like the mess in here, you’ll love the bedroom,” he said cheekily.

“Lead the way,” Ben replied with a grin.

The bedroom was messier than Mat remembered. Clothes lay across the bed and all over the floor and the curtains still weren’t open as a result of his hurry this morning. As Mat moved to clear some room on the bed, Ben grabbed his wrist.

“No! – ah, if we sit on the bed it’s going to get soaked,” he said lamely, immediately cursing himself internally for letting his obsessive cleanliness get in the way of the moment.  
Mat had almost forgotten that he was still dripping from head to toe from the rain.

“Well maybe we should get these clothes off and out of our way,” Mat said.

Ben bit his lip and Mat could tell he’d gone too far.

“Mat, I don’t want to rush this. I want to, more than anything, but perhaps we should slow down a bit.”

“Yes, of course; sorry, I’m getting carried away...”

Ben walked over and wrapped his arms around Mat. “Don’t worry, so was I. Now, shall we get dried off first?”

Mat smiled. “Yeah, I’ll grab some towels.”

As soon as Mat got into the corridor he banged his head against the wall. He couldn’t ruin this – it was too good an opportunity for a cock-up and if things did go wrong things would be awkward the rest of the time they had to work together. Breathe, breathe, breathe, Mat chanted over and over in his head as he reached into the cupboard and pulled two fluffy bath towels out. Don’t push it – let him makes the moves if he wants to, and don’t be disappointed if he doesn’t, Mat told himself sternly.

Ben smiled shyly at Mat as he re-entered the bedroom. He looked as if he’d been stood there for the last few seconds simply trying not to drip rainwater on Mat’s possessions; he’d managed to find a small clearing in the clothes next to the bed where Mat got up each morning.

Mat walked over and draped one of the towels over Ben’s head and back, wrapping it across his chest and over one shoulder so he looked like blue fuzzy nun. Mat giggled at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” Ben asked.

“You look like a nun,” Mat sniggered.

Ben grabbed the other towel and did the same to Mat. “Okay, that does look pretty funny,” he grinned. Mat felt a warm feeling spreading through him that had more to do with  
Ben’s amused expression than the thick towel insulating his head. Yet despite this Mat felt an involuntary shiver shudder through his body at the cold rainwater making his clothes cling desperately to his skinny body.

Without hesitation Ben removed his towel and wrapped it around Mat’s torso, hugging him tightly. It would have been perfect – except for the fact that Mat’s arms were trapped under two layers of towel so he couldn’t hug back despite his best efforts to wriggle them free. In the end he resorted to snuggling into Ben’s reassuring arms and nuzzling his cold nose into his neck.

“That better?” Ben mumbled into Mat’s ear.

“Mmmm,” was all that came in reply.

“Good,” Ben said, giving him a final squeeze before pulling away. Ben glanced uncertainly towards the bed then back up at Mat, an eyebrow raised in tentative question.  
Mat bit his lip in deliberation. He wanted to, God he wanted to, but he didn’t want Ben to go ahead with it just because Mat wanted to. When he thought about it, he’d only known Ben a couple of days. Sure, it felt like they had known each other forever, but the reality was he barely knew him, and the more thoroughly this thought processed in Mat’s brain the more he knew that it was way too early for anything like this if they wanted to make a steady relationship out of whatever it was they had at the moment.

Ben noticed Mat’s hesitation. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he said, concern in his eyes. “It’s just you seemed pretty eager a minute go...”

“I was... but you’re right, I don’t think we should be taking things so quickly. We came out to get coffee and ended up in my bedroom. Now I don’t know about you, but this is the fastest-moving first date I’ve ever been on,” Mat laughed.

Ben smiled. “Yeah, me too. Maybe coffee would be a better place to start.”

Mat exhaled, relieved. “Yeah. Coffee. Good.” He turned and shuffled out of the bedroom, Ben a pace behind. After a few steps Mat discovered just how difficult it could be to walk with your arms bound to your sides and fast began to lose his balance. Just before he toppled into the wall, Ben grabbed him and took the corner of the towel out of the folds he had tucked it into in order to secure it around Mat.

“You could’ve said if it was too tight,” Ben laughed, before pulling hard on the end of the towel he was holding, sending Mat spinning down the corridor in a haze of disorientation. Ben rushed to catch him again, this time mere inches from the floor.

Mat’s eyes took a couple of seconds to focus on Ben’s. The other towel had fallen off his head leaving his hair an adorably dishevelled mop of damp dark curls.

“Thanks,” he smiled. From this angle Ben looked like some handsome prince who had rescued his damsel in distress; his strong torso was framed by a glow from the hallway light and his face was beautifully lined with amusement.

“No problem,” Ben replied, pulling Mat up to standing. Spontaneously Ben closed the gap between their lips once more. He took a moment to appreciate Mat’s soft lips before slowly withdrawing to see a pink-cheeked Mat trying not to smile too much. Ben felt Mat’s fingers slip between his and squeezed back gently in response.

“Coffee,” Mat reminded himself aloud before leading the rest of the way down the corridor and into the kitchen that was still cluttered from his hasty breakfast with Martha that morning.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mat and Ben make some coffee and get to know each other a little better, including weird obsessions.

“So how do you like your coffee?” Mat asked as Ben took a seat at the cluttered table.

“Um... there’s more than one way of having coffee?” he replied, embarrassed.

“Yeeees... Ben, when was the last time you had any coffee?” Mat said with a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Ben sighed. “Just before I spat it out last time I tried it. I was 12.”

“So why did you suggest we go and get some in the first place?”

“Because I know you like it.”

Their eyes met across the small room and Mat’s heart swelled with affection for the older man.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said quietly.

Ben looked shyly at the ground. “But I wanted to,” he replied, glancing up at Mat through his lashes.

Mat bit back the strong urge to close the meter or so between them and kiss Ben all over. “So... do you like tea, then?”

Ben’s head shot up at the word and he grinned from ear to ear. Mat smiled to himself as he turned to the cupboard where he had a large supply of tea stocked just in case someone like Ben ever came round.

“We have... Blueberry, Raspberry, Ginseng, Sleepy Time, Green Tea, Green Tea with Lemon, Green Tea with Lemon and Honey, Liver Disaster, Ginger with Honey, Ginger without Honey, Vanilla Almond, White Truffle, Blueberry Chamomile, Vanilla Walnut, Constant Comment and... Earl Grey.”

“I think I’ll have sleepy time,” Ben answered with a suggestive smile. Mat bit his lip; they may be taking things slowly, but they could still flirt like crazy.

 

“Cheers,” Ben said as Mat set down the two mugs. He took a long drag of his tea and sighed happily, eyes closed. He’d been craving a cuppa ever since they left the theatre, and  
the relief was sweet.

He opened his eyes to meet Mat’s, which were gazing absently into his. After blinking a couple of times, Mat picked up his mug and sipped his decaf coffee. “So, Mr Willbond. How did you get into acting?”

“Well,” Ben began, smiling as he slipped easily into the role of enthusiastic interviewee. “I was never particularly into drama at school – I was one of the more academic, as you can probably guess – but as I progressed with my life it felt like something was missing,” he said, gazing into the middle distance in mock insightfulness. Mat giggled. “And then!- one cold night when I thought all hope of finding my purpose was lost, I stumbled across a small theatre that happened to be showing my favourite play that night. As I watched from the back of the packed auditorium I realised how much fun those on stage seemed to be having, as well as the audience. They joined in with every emotion and I knew there and then that’s what I wanted to do.” He paused dramatically. “To give people the pure satisfaction of first-class entertainment.” He and Mat laughed together at Ben’s overacting.

“Okay, how much of that was true?” Mat asked, still giggling.

“Most of it. It just sounds ridiculously cheesy when I say it seriously,” Ben laughed.

Mat smiled endearingly. “I think it’s cute.”

Ben smiled back shyly, colour highlighting his cheeks. The pair finished their drinks in comfortable silence, their eyes never leaving each other’s.

Ben licked his lips as he set down his mug. “Thanks again, that was delicious.” 

“Any time,” Mat said. He then glanced quickly behind Ben and gave a small squeal. Ben spun around to see what was wrong, though nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Giving 

Mat an extremely confused look, he asked, “What? What’s wrong?”

Mat had regained his composure quickly. “Sorry, I just noticed the time and...”

“Oh... do you want me to leave, or...?”

“No! No no no no no, of course not” It’s just... nothing, don’t worry, it’s stupid...”

“It won’t, trust me. Can’t be any more stupid than the story of how I found myself through acting,” Ben chuckled, kindness in his eyes.

“Well... it’s just the new episode of Cash In The Attic has just started...”

Ben tried his hardest to suppress the smirk and giggles that threatened to overthrow him. Mat watched his mouth working as it attempted to hold the straight face together – he didn’t really care that Ben found it funny, he only wanted to watch those lips forever, press them to his own...

Ben broke. “I’m sorry, I’m not laughing, I’m just...” He managed to regain his composure. “Why Cash In The Attic?”

“I dunno, it’s a blossoming obsession that started when my mum showed it to me a few months ago. I think this episode is recording, actually – I hope so, the preview at the end of last week’s looked really good; this guy owns an abbey and there are a load of religious relics and stuff that he doesn’t want so he could potentially get the highest price of the series–”

Ben was grinning.

“Yeah, I guess that does sound stupid when I say it seriously,” Mat sighed.

“I think it’s cute,” Ben said, eyes sparkling.

***

“Yeah, and a large chips please. Thanks.”

Mat set the phone down on the table and settled back onto the sofa, Ben’s arm draping round his shoulders.

“Are you sure you’re okay with takeout food, Ben? I’d imagined something a bit classier for our first dinner. Fish and chips is hardly impressive.”

Ben smiled down at Mat, amused at his frustration. “Takeout’s fine. Anyway, who needs fancy food when I’ve got you?”

Mat pecked Ben happily on the lips then snuggled into his side, resuming the TV.

“I never knew how captivating Cash In The Attic could be,” Ben said.

“Don’t mock it, Ben,” Mat pleaded. “You said you were okay with my weird obsession.”

“I’m not mocking it, I’m serious. This guy’s doing really well with his abbey; he’s even got pillars spare after a full auction of the rest of the stuff. Hey, it’d be great to go on it  
someday; I’ve got loads of stuff in my mum’s attic I never took off her hands, I could sell most of it for a decent price on a show like this.”

“Really? That’d be so cool!”

Ben couldn’t help returning Mat’s enthusiastic grin. He kissed the top of his head and held him close. He never wanted to let this one go.


	13. Chapter 13

A movement beneath Mat made his eyes flutter open. His head lay on Ben’s chest, an arm around his middle and their legs intertwined. As Mat looked up to see whether he was awake, Ben looked back at him, eyelids tired but blue eyes alive. For a moment, all either of them could do was smile.

“Morning,” Mat managed eventually, shifting himself so that his lips could meet Ben’s.

“Morning,” Ben replied, holding Mat closer and deepening the kiss. They stayed like that for a moment, only aware of each other, until some distant music registered somewhere in Ben’s brain. “Can you hear that?” he asked, Mat reluctantly pulling away from him and listening. Ben watched as he sleepily surveyed their surroundings, eyes squinting as a beam of sunlight fell upon them. He sighed heavily when he located the source of the sound then flopped back onto Ben’s chest.

“It’s the TV. We fell asleep in the lounge.”

“So we did.” Ben hadn’t registered which room they were in until Mat mentioned it. He sat up slightly, despite groans of protest from Mat, and looked around properly.

The TV remote lay on the table in front of them, along with the wrappings of dinner. The curtains were open a crack in the middle and the sun shone bright from behind them, highlighting a narrow channel of swirling dust down the middle of the room. It looked like it was already late morning.

Muting the TV, Ben stood slowly and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair in an attempt to correct its half-squashed state and make himself look vaguely presentable to the outside world. But before he threw the curtains wide, he glanced back to the sofa; Mat lay curled up on his side, his arm slipping from across the cushion on his face to the floor, the cushion following suit and revealing his peaceful, sleeping face. Ben couldn’t bring himself to wake him, so instead closed the gap in the curtains and quietly exited the room and headed towards the kitchen.

***

The welcome scent of coffee and toast roused Mat easily. Ben perched on the table with a tray in his hands, smiling as Mat rubbed his eyes and gratefully accepted the breakfast, which he thanked Ben for several times before he finished it. Ten minutes later they were making their way towards the theatre hand in hand.

They were earlier than they’d thought – Martha was the only one there and had only just arrived. She greeted them cheerfully despite looking extremely tired.

“Everything okay with you two then?” she asked, glancing at their linked hands then smirking at Mat.

“Oh! Yeah, really good.” Mat grinned up at Ben. He smiled back, his hesitant expression softening when Mat’s eyes met his. They’d never actually discussed whether they were going to tell anyone else about whatever was happening between them; Mat was so used to being completely open with Martha he hadn’t even thought, and felt guilty for not asking Ben about it.

“Right, I’m going to make some coff— hot drinks,” he amended, glancing at Ben. “Who wants some?”

Martha accepted gratefully, and Ben agreed too, hanging his coat up and offering to help. His hand rejoined Mat’s and they made their way across the foyer, Martha throwing Mat a suggestive look as he glanced back at her. He just stuck his tongue out in reply.

When they reached the kitchen, Mat reluctantly withdrew his hand from to fiddle with the theatre’s electrical controls before filling the kettle and pulling three mugs out of the cupboard. Ben joined Mat in perching on the counter while the water boiled. Completely unexpectedly, Ben slipped a hand around Mat’s waist and pulled him so their noses were touching. Mat’s breath quickened instantly.

“Hey,” Ben grinned.

“Hey,” Mat breathed. “So... What’s actually happening between us? Are we... I dunno... dating or what?”

Ben bit his lip. “Yeah, dating sounds good.”

“Great.” Mat couldn’t resist the huge grin that spread across his face. “Um, do you want to tell the others yet? We don’t have to, just if you’re okay with it.”

“Um I think we should wait for a bit. Apart from Martha; we can tell Martha.”

Mat grinned again, crushing his lips into Ben’s. Ben kissed back passionately, parting his lips slightly. Mat slipped his tongue into Ben’s mouth, yearning for more. Mat let himself be pushed onto his back, almost falling off the counter in the process. He pulled Ben down on top of him anyway and wrapped his arms and legs around him, enjoying just being close to him. Plus the fact that he was an amazing kisser. His solid body was comforting and made him feel safer than he ever had before. He was perfect. Mat wanted to stay with him forever.

Mat withdrew slowly from the kiss and looked deep into Ben’s eyes.

“I love you, Ben Willbond.”

Ben’s expression seemed to melt into one of pure adoration and affection for Mat.

“I love you too, Mat. So much.”

Their lips rejoined, a more tender kiss than before, both men ignoring the whistling kettle behind them.

***

“You two took your time.”

Martha shook her head when Ben and Mat just grinned at each other. Most of the others had arrived now, even Simon, who looked, yet again, hung over. He marched over to Mat and picked up his coffee from the tray he was carrying without even asking whose it was and downed it in one, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and announced that   
everyone should head into the auditorium for the much anticipated casting. The others followed, apparently unfazed by Simon’s abrupt commencement of the working day.

“Right!” Simon yelled from the stage, despite the fact that they were all sat in the front row of seats. “Twelfth Night! Six main roles – Willbond, you’ll be Orsino, the Duke guy who’s in love with Olivia, who’s played by Dominique. She detests you – who wouldn’t Orsino’s an arse – but who does love you is Viola, who dresses up as a bloke called Cesario so she can get close to you, and that’s you, Mat, you’re Cesario. Now your twin brother Sebastian, who you think died in a storm on a boat, has to be played by someone who looks vaguely like you, and I happen to know someone who looks vaguely like you; Mat this is Mike, Mike this is Mat— introductions over calm down. There’s a guy who Sebastian makes friends with, called Antonio, that’s you Jalaal. One more role, Malvolio, who’s head servant at Olivia’s house and he’s gonna be played my man Lawry here – introductions over calm down. There are a few more minor roles but other than that, everyone clear?!”

Mat was so overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of information that he couldn’t even muster enough concentration to nod his head with the others.

“Hey, that’s brilliant!” Ben whispered. “You got a leading role!”

As Mat started to process Simon’s speech, he realised Ben was right. He managed a smile, which soon developed into a grin.

“Yeah,” Mat said, turning to face Ben. “Yeah, I did.”

They hugged, both extremely happy with their roles. Mat also congratulated Jalaal who was sat on the other side of him as this was his first major role as well. The general excited chatter died down as Simon resumed talk, going on to detail props and costumes for each person, and only then did it dawn on Mat what role he would really be playing for the next few weeks.

He’d be acting in love with Ben.

He couldn’t decide whether that was good or bad. Part of him was overjoyed at the thought; they could be as open about their love as they wanted on stage and not have to tell the others if they didn’t want to. Maybe Simon had put them together like that on purpose – he seemed to know something was going on, probably as a result of when they first met at the pub.

But another part of him tainted his happiness by mentioning how awkward things would get of something happened between him and Ben for the worse. Mat tried his best to push the thought to the back of his mind for the rest of the morning as scripts were passed around and costume measurements were taken.


	14. Chapter 14

In his break Mat caught Martha up on the latest gossip; it was a default function these days.

“So the first night you know this guy he stays over at your house?” Martha said, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

“Shut up, I’m not that easy. Nothing like that happened,” Mat defended.

“I never said you were. Did you ask him about the party then? Sounds like you got on well enough.”

“Shit! Completely slipped my mind, sorry. I’ll ask him later.”

“Great. There’s no rush, so if you’re too busy later to mention it, don’t worry,” Martha winked. Mat pushed her shoulder playfully. “So what’s the relationship status between you two?”

“Officially dating,” came a voice from behind them. Ben stood in the doorway, grinning his head off. Mat grinned back and skipped over to hug him, taking his hand and kissing him on the cheek in front of Martha as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Martha was pleased that Mat was so comfortable with this relationship already – it had been a while since she’d seen him this happy, and with a lead role in the production she doubted he’d be sad again anytime soon. His life was finally going the way he wanted, and she couldn’t be happier for him.

“Oh! Ben, do you fancy coming to a party this weekend? Martha’s boyfriend’s throwing one and the more the merrier!”

Mat’s enthusiasm for the event diminished any reservations Ben may have had immediately. “Sure, why not?”

Mat’s face lit up again as he hugged Ben tightly in his excitement. Ben hugged back, adrenaline flowing with the increasing speed of the relationship and the new anticipation of the weekend. His heightened emotions did nothing to calm the notion in the back of his mind telling him to slow down before things went too quickly and he wasn’t able to stop   
them.

***

That evening the pub was full. Simon had stayed true to his promise to buy celebratory drinks that night. He and Sarah were laughing riotously together and flirting despite her claim that they were just old friends. Throughout the evening they moved closer and closer to each other, getting more and more drunk, taking more shots each than the rest of the group could manage put together. Mat never knew she could handle so much alcohol at once; maybe she’d had so much practice with Simon at uni that she’d grown as immune to it as he had.

One thing Mat could assume, however, was that she did feel something more than friendship for Simon as halfway through the evening she took his hand and they marched out of the pub, apparently oblivious to the wolf-whistle from Larry.

As Mat watched the pair leave, he felt a warm hand slip round his middle and warm breath tickled his ear.

“Shall we leave in a few minutes? See if we can get away while the others are hypothesising about Sarah and Simon’s antics...”

Mat smile to himself; even when relatively drunk Ben managed to get words like ‘hypothesising’ into conversation.

“Sounds good to me,” Mat replied, his hand fining Ben’s thigh under the table and making its way up. Ben gave a low grunt and kissed Mat’s ear gently, sending small shivers   
down Mat’s spine. His breath became short as Ben moved down to his neck, and he involuntarily squeezed Ben’s leg.

“Is now a good enough time to go?” Mat asked, desperation leaking into his otherwise controlled voice.

“Definitely,” Ben said quickly, attempting to move his chair back without making any noise.

It didn’t work.

“Going somewhere, Mr Willbond?” Larry said with an enquiring eyebrow raised.

“Yes I am. And Mat’s coming with me,” he added, all reservations about their relationship’s publicity gone. The others cheered as Ben and Mat made their way their way towards the door, but Mat noticed with a flicker of something like guilt that Larry’s expression was not so joyous. He watched Larry down the last of his drink and force a tight smile as he glanced a final time at the pair.

Any sympathy towards Larry slipped Mat’s mind entirely once he and Ben got outside. Ben pushed him roughly against the wall and planted a lustful kiss heavily onto his lips.

 

As they drew apart, Ben was reminded of the last time he’d been there; the first time they’d met. When he had dragged Simon out of Mat’s face and made sure that he was okay, introduced himself and gazed into those gorgeous chocolate orbs; when he mentally cursed Simon for ruining the moment before turning to leave; when he turned back to look at Mat in the hope of meeting his gaze one more time. When he was merely an attractive stranger he never expected to see again. Had that only been two days ago? He felt like he knew Mat better than anyone else in the world, like they’d known each other for years. Like things could never have been any different.

Ben could see the exact same thoughts going through Mat’s head as he gazed once more into those heavenly minstrel eyes. He cupped Mat’s face with one hand, drew him into a passionate kiss and ran his other hand through his boyfriend’s luxurious dark curls. He felt Mat pull his body closer, simply yearning contact, not caring what people passing would think. Most of them would probably be plastered anyway and not think anything of it in the morning.

Ben slowly withdrew from the kiss and nuzzled into Mat hair, and felt Mat do the same to his neck.

“I’m so glad I met you, Mat,” he whispered into his boyfriend’s ear.

He felt Mat smile against his skin. “Me too, Ben. I don’t want to be with anyone else. Ever.”

Ben smiled and looked into Mat’s eyes. “Looks like you’re stuck with me for a while, then.”


	15. Chapter 15

The three friends sat around the small table sipping coffee. Mat knew the cafe was less busy on Friday mornings than most times of the week and had invited Martha and Jim out for a cuppa before they went down to the theatre at a later start time than usual.

He sat listening to Jim’s attentive conversation with Martha about menial topics; he could hear his boss wanting to carry on talking to her no matter what the conversation line was. Mat had realised long ago that Jim had feelings for Martha, but ever since she started going out with Alex he had seemed to have given up on the tactic of flirtation and friendzoned himself magnificently well. Truth be told, Mat felt sorry for Jim; nothing was worse than being best friends with the person you most want to get intimate with, being there when they went through a break-up or are having a bad day and the most you can offer is hugs as taking advantage of a situation like that would be immoral and unforgivable and would make it even less likely for you to have a relationship with them.

But then again, Jim knew full well what he was getting himself into.

Mat’s thoughts drifted with his friends’ conversation, and as the party was mentioned in their discussion of plans in the near future his mind rested, by no means for the first time that day, on Ben. Lovely, wonderful, amazing, gorgeous Ben, his Ben. Even though it had been years since Mat had been in a serious relationship he found the lifestyle that came with it were second nature. Ben seemed more comfortable with the everyday alterations to his routine as the week had proceeded, as well as the publicity; on Wednesday morning the pair had been quizzed by numerous people about the events the night before and they had resorted to announcing their relationship to all their colleagues in their break.

The rest of the day had been one of the most enjoyable workdays Mat had had in years. He and Ben barely broke hands and had great fun reading their lines in the last scene to each other in Ben’s dressing room, overacting beyond absurdity then falling into each others’ arms, laughing and kissing.

Mat grinned to himself, hoping that every day from then onwards would be as perfect as that one.

“Mat?” Martha’s face floated into his vision. “You ready to go? You’ve barely touched your coffee...”

“Oh... Sorry, yeah, I was somewhere else...”

Martha smiled knowingly. “The sooner we get going, the sooner you can see him. Come on, are you going to drink that or not?”

“Nah.”

“Great.” She picked up his mug and draining the second half of the mug in a few gulps.

Mat just shook his head at her, amused. “I thought I was meant to be the coffee monster?”

***

Ben linked his fingers through Mat’s as they left the theatre after a ‘hard day’s work’ and wandered towards the small park down the road. They soon settled on a bench and Mat rested his head on Ben’s shoulder.

“You tired?”

“A bit. I might actually get some sleep when I get home rather than having another coffee. It might do me good to get some extra sleep before the party.”

“That’s tomorrow isn’t it?”

“Yeah. You hadn’t forgotten, had you?” Mat cast him a sideways glance.

“No, it’s just crept up on me really quickly. I hadn’t even thought about what to wear.”

Mat gave him an unimpressed look. “Really? Not even one idea?”

“Nope. I’m really bad when it comes to picking outfits. What’s the dress code?”

“Smart casual.”

“Well that helps.”

Mat straightened up and offered his hand to Ben. “Come on. Let’s go find you something to wear.”

***

The pair arrived at Ben’s house ten minutes later. It was the first time Mat had been there, but it held no surprises for him. It was exactly as Mat expected; large, organised, and pristine in every sense of the word. He hurried eagerly inside and soon found the bedroom, complete with a walk-in wardrobe. It took him a moment to get over the sheer scale of the closet; Mat had always dreamed of a wardrobe like this, and when he pulled back the door he was met with the widest array of clothes he had ever seen.

“Wow,” Mat breathed.

Ben walked in behind him, blushing slightly at the extravagance of his residence in comparison to Mat’s. But Mat didn’t seem to care.

“This is the best wardrobe I’ve ever seen. You’ve got to be able to pick something out of here,” Mat marvelled, gazing into the clothing-filled expanse with glazed eyes.

“You’d think so, but no,” Ben replied sheepishly.

Mat was in another world. His hand ran along the edge of the garments, inspecting each one in turn, picking out shirts, trousers and jeans left, right and centre in what appeared to Ben to be a completely random fashion. He muttered to himself as he went.

“Ooh, that’s nice... Perfect for those jeans I saw... Where are they? Ah! There we go... And that pink- that pink... Perhaps with those slacks, that could work, we’ll give it a go...”

Ben watched in an amused silence until Mat turned from the wardrobe and dumped a large selection of clothed on the large double bed that dominated the room. He then spun to face his boyfriend, a proud grin plastered on his face.

“Right,” Mat began. “Shirts first.”

He rummaged through the pile, holding a range of colours and styles against the older man, his face flashing through multiple expressions in seconds as he assessed the suitability of the item in his hand, eyes darting expertly around the mass of fabric which slowly spread into an area of a 2 metre radius around Mat. Within 10 minutes he had experimented with the whole pile and came to a shortlist of possible outfits for Ben to choose from. He laid them out neatly on the bed and turned once more to Ben for approval.

Ben stepped over the mound of clothes in front of him and contemplated his options. In all honesty he had absolutely no idea which he preferred.

“What do you think?” Mat asked, a little breathless from his high-speed wardrobe evaluation.

“Ah... I think you’ve done a job I never thought was possible. Seriously, I’m impressed.”

Mat smiled at his feet. “Least I could do.”

“So... which do you think I should wear?”

“It’s a tough one, but I think either the pale pink shirt with the blue jeans or the white polo shirt and black pinstriped trousers.”

“Right. How are we going to choose between the two?”

“Try them on, we’ll see how quickly I jump on you,” Mat winked.

Ben grinned at that. “Sounds good to me.”

Mat bit his lip and walked over to the door, backing out slowly and reluctantly closing the door. He leant against the corridor wall, breathing heavily. Just imagining that shirt on Ben made him flush.

Five minutes later, Ben called Mat back into the bedroom.

The sound that came out of Mat’s mouth wasn’t human. The pastel pink complimented Ben’s hair perfectly, accentuated his strong arms and where it hung casually over the jeans   
Mat could barely resist. He ran straight at Ben, pushing him backwards onto the bed and pressing his lips firmly against his boyfriend’s, hurrying to unbutton the dashing pink   
shirt already and throwing it back onto the pile of clothes that remained on the floor.

“I take it you like this one then?” Ben chuckled.

“Oh yeah,” Mat grinned, moving to suck passionately on Ben’s neck.


	16. Chapter 16

The doorbell rang through Mat’s flat as he pulled a blue polo shirt over his long-sleeved top. He ran a hand through his hair before opening the door to a dashing Ben, dressed once more in his pink shirt and well-fitting jeans. Mat took a deep breath to prevent himself from ravishing his boyfriend again. It was extremely tempting.

Ben looked Mat up and down, amazed by how he could carry absolutely anything off; the sleeves pushed up around his elbows, the polo shirt opened casually at the neck, the cream slacks hanging perfectly on his figure.

“Up here, Ben.”

Ben snapped his head up to look into Mat’s bright and amused eyes, suddenly aware of how long he had been stood admiring his boyfriend. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Shall we get going then?” he mumbled.

“Sure,” Mat grinned, taking Ben’s hand and closing the door behind him. “You know, Ben,” he continued as they made their way down the spiralling steps, grinning up at his flushing partner. “I don’t mind you checking me out, but you could’ve been a little less obvious about it.”

***

They arrived at Alex’s place half an hour later. They found Martha within seconds; it looked like she’d already started on the drinks despite it only being early evening. She dragged them around the large house introducing them to friends left, right and centre. They eventually reached the kitchen, where the host stood chatting to a group of men, casually leaning against the counter with his back to them and a glass of wine in his hand.

Martha shoved through the group, tapping her boyfriend on the arm.

“Alex, you’ve met Mat before, but I wanted to introduce you to his boyfriend, Ben.”

Alex turned away from the chattering cluster to face the men who had just arrived. As soon as he laid eyes on the newcomers his cheerful expression dropped to one of sheer shock. Mat turned to see his look mirrored in Ben’s features.

“Do... do you two know each other?” Martha asked cautiously, her face now concerned.

“Yes,” Alex said, slowly walking around the counter to look closer at Ben, who seemed frozen to the spot. “We... went to university together.”

“It was most than just that,” Ben hissed, voice strained as though his throat were constricted. “You know it was.”

The group behind them had fallen silent now. Some were gazing at Ben with the same look of denial Alex wore.

“Bloody hell, Ben?! What are you doing here?” a voice came from the crowd.

“Thanks for the warm welcome, Richard,” Ben replied sourly, his eyes never leaving Alex’s. “And I’m here with my boyfriend, if you must know.”

The man who had spoken relapsed back into silence.

“Ben,” Mat whispered, shuffling closer to the older man, gripping his hand tighter and trying to draw his stare from the host. “Ben, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Ben turned abruptly and strode out of the room, Mat in hurried pursuit. Once they were out, the room erupted into conspiratory whispers. All Alex had to say on the matter, however, was “Shit.”

***

“Ben, look at me.”

Mat stepped in front of Ben and gripped his shoulders, stopping his progress towards the front door. But Ben refused to look him in the eye. Instead he wiped a hand across both eyes and stared at the wall next to him, jaw clenched.

“Ben, if you don’t tell me, I can’t help. We can get through this, whatever it is.”

Ben finally met his eyes.

“Is there somewhere more private we can go?” He clocked all the people looking at them and muttering. He just wanted to get out of there. “Outside maybe?”

Mat nodded quickly and turned him around, navigating through the lower level of the house, avoiding the kitchen, to reach the back garden.

A few bunches of people gathered by the broad open glass doors at the back of the house, but none stood further than the end of the patio. Mat walked out far past them, across the wide expanse of grass and into a small alcove in the bushes lining the garden. In the middle stood a small but extravagant bench, formed with elegant curves of metal and wood, feet decorated by hand-crafted flowers and leaves. Once sat, the two men were hidden from the rest of the world and were free to share secrets and truths without fear of being overheard.

Mat took both of Ben’s hands in his tentatively and waited patiently and silently until Ben finally wiped his eyes once more and looked directly into his partner’s.

“It was a long time ago,” Ben began, dropping his eyes again, not able to hold Mat’s gaze for long. “It was my last year of university, and Alex and I had been friends for years. We took the same course; we had all our lectures together, we shared a flat, we did everything together. We were as close as you could get as friends.

“And that was the problem. Alex wanted to be more than friends. He came back to the flat one night after being out at the pub. He was completely hammered. He came into my room and sat on my bed next to me, stinking of alcohol, then started blurting out all these things about how he’s wanted me from the moment he met me, how he couldn’t suppress his feelings anymore. At first I didn’t pay much attention; he’d been known to say some ridiculous things when he was drunk. But the all of a sudden he leaned in and tried to... kiss me.

“I didn’t know what I felt at all. I’d been friends with this guy for years; I thought I knew him better than anyone else. Then suddenly I didn’t know him at all. So I did the only thing I could think of; I got out of there. He tried to stop me – and he’s pretty strong, he had as much muscle then as he does now – but eventually I got out of there. I grabbed my absolute essentials and went to another friend’s.

“I stayed there for the last week or so of the year, ignoring Alex whenever I saw him. I couldn’t get my head straight. I’d never decided my sexuality; I’d never had anything other than girlfriends, but I knew that I felt something towards guys as well. And now my best friend was declaring his love for me and I had no idea how I felt about him.

“Yet the more I thought about it, the more I came round to the thought of being with him. We knew everything there was to know about each other, we got on well, and he was attractive. We already lived together easily enough. How different could it be?

“So I decided to go and talk to him. Term had finished, parties were in full swing every night, and everything seemed a lot more relaxed. I let myself into our flat one evening, certain on how I felt (or as certain as I was ever going to be) and ready to start a relationship with this guy.

“I couldn’t see him anywhere, but I heard movement coming from his room. So I called out...”

Ben squeezed his eyes closed as the memory came flooding back. Fresh tears streamed down his cheeks and his body shook; it felt as if it had only happened last night...

-

“Alex?” I call out, walking towards his door. “Alex, there’s something I have to tell you. I’m sorry about leaving – I panicked, I had no idea what to think. But now I know exactly how   
I feel.”

I turn the doorknob in my hand and swing the door wide.

“Alex, I lo–”

My breath catches as the light behind me illuminates the dark scene before me. Alex lies on his bed, naked, with another man knelt over him. They both look at me, eyes widened in horror, faces pale. Alex opens his mouth to produce some explanation, but my hand slams the door closed again.

My other hand clamps over my mouth. My eyes sting with angry tears, and I ran to my room gathering up all my possessions I can. The tears flow freely now and I hurry out of the flat, not turning as I hear the bedroom door open. I charge down the stairs, blocking out the shouts and cries from the doorway.

I don’t want to be here ever again. I don’t want any contact ever again. When my phone rings I throw it on the ground and stamp and jump on it until I have no energy left. I get a train to my parents’ house, arriving on their doorstep at one in the morning looking a total wreck. They take me in, as I knew they would. It felt like they were the only people in the world I would ever be able to rely entirely on.

-

Ben hadn’t thought about what happened that night ever since. He only managed to regain calmness because Mat was with him; he held him as he relived the night all those years ago, stroked his hair as the salty water spilled from his eyes.

“It’s okay now, Ben, I’m here, I’ve got you.”

Ben sat up slowly and met Mat’s understanding and loving eyes. He genuinely didn’t know what he’d do without him. He reached forward and hugged his perfect boyfriend closely.

“I love you so much, Mat. Promise me,” he said, holding Mat’s face close to his. “Promise me you’ll never leave me.”

Mat stroked Ben’s face gently. “I promise, Ben.”


	17. Chapter 17

“You WHAT?!”

Jim heard the yelling as soon as he entered the door. He could tell it was Martha’s voice, although he’d never heard it in such a distressed state before. She always seemed so happy and carefree when she was at work, so what could possibly be going on? All he knew for certain was that he had to be there for her.

He’d only decided to come to the party 20 minutes previously, knowing that the only people he would know was Mat, Ben and of course Martha, but she had invited him and so Jim decided it was his duty as a friend to attend. A friend. That was all. Jim may not have liked it, but that was all.

He reached the kitchen in moments. Martha stood facing who Jim presumed was Alex, angry tears streaked down her porcelain face. Alex was babbling, trying to form some kind of explanation for whatever had happened. Jim caught phrases – “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings”; “I did it because I love you” – all the usual bullshit. But Martha was having none of it. She shook her head slowly and turned to walk out the patio doors into the cool garden. Jim followed hastily, slipping past all the gathered strangers.

“Martha? Wait up,” he called.

She stopped and spun around, an angry spark still in her eyes and her golden curled hair bouncing around her shoulders. Once her eyes rested on Jim, they softened to a resigned sadness and she hugged her bare arms which had grown suddenly cold from the sudden change in atmosphere.

As Jim approached and his eyes adjusted to the dark he spent a moment to take in Martha’s full appearance; she’d really gone all out for this party with curled hair, a pair of gold earrings with a matching necklace and a stunning deep red dress which hugged her curves and flattered her incredible figure. Her eye makeup had run from the tears leaving black trails down her cheeks, but she still managed a small smile for the friend who had come to her.

“Hey, you made it,” she managed, trying not to break down again.

“I’d make anything for you.”

Jim glanced at the surprise in Martha’s expression and quickly changed topic by shrugging off his jacket and hanging it around Martha’s shoulders, then guiding her over to some garden chairs that sat a few feet away.

“Do you mind me asking what happened?” Jim asked gently as Martha wiped fresh tears from her eyes.

“Alex is a fucking prick.”

Jim smiled at her bluntness. Even when she was angry and upset he loved her quirks.

“He’s bi, by the way. Well at least he says he is. I reckon he’s bent all the way. Turns out he’s been in love with his best friend from uni for the past 20 years of his life, and has never gotten over him despite the fact that this person, who I’d like to mention is our good friend Ben Willbond, left him when he found him with someone else and broke off all contact with him and hasn’t seen since him until today–”

“Wait, Alex loves Ben?”

“Yeah. And he never thought to mention it to me until today, after Ben had come and seen him and then left. He seemed pretty pissed at Alex, which he deserves, the bastard. I mean, we discussed all our past relationships, or at least I thought we had. He probably just made up a load of bullshit about all the girls he’d been out with. I mean how can you forget to mention that you’re into guys as well? I probably would’ve been fine with it if he’d been honest with me from the start. Ugh,” she finished, running out of words to express her frustration.

Jim had sat listening, attempting to take all of it in. Now he took Martha’s hands in his and squeezed them gently, meeting Martha’s tired and exhausted eyes with understanding and sympathy.

“Hey. Everything’s going to be fine. Forget him. You can do so much better than him. You’re beautiful; you can have anyone you want. I’m serious,” Jim added as Martha scoffed at his last comment. She looked back into his earnest eyes and sobered, suddenly able to believe the words he said. She was so grateful that she knew Jim; he always knew what to say, was always there when she needed him and never failed to make her feel comfortable and warm inside.

In a sudden, unanticipated urge, Martha leant forward and pressed her lips gently to Jim’s. He responded instantly, cupping her head and pulling her in, deepening the kiss. But something inside him told him that this was wrong; that it shouldn’t happen this way.

He reluctantly pulled away from the kiss, resisting Martha’s attempts to continue.

“Martha, stop... This isn’t right, it’s just a rebound thing you’re feeling, and I don’t want something like this to ruin what we already have–”

“Oh, shut up, Jim. It’s not a rebound. I’d just never realised it before because I was with someone else, but you’re always there for me and you never let me down; you’re perfect. And I... I love you.”

Jim resumed the kiss with heightened passion, drawing Martha as close to him as he could, treasuring the feeling of her being close. She returned the intensity, wrapping her arms around Jim as if she never intended to let go.

Jim moved her lips to her ear and whispered, “I love you too.”

***

Ben and Mat made their way down the garden, spotting Martha and Jim in a close embrace as they passed. “About time,” Mat smiled to himself.

They continued around the side of the house, determined to avoid any confrontation. The pair walked back to Ben’s house, hands held and silent. There wasn’t much to say now that the background of the evening’s events was out in the open; all that was left to do was for them to be with each other. They made their way into the bedroom (which, Mat noticed, had been cleared of the clothed he had chucked around the previous day) and lay in Ben’s luxurious double bed, holding one another and watching at one another until eventually the fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Mat awoke late the next day – he was used to being woken by the sunlight streaming through his thin budget curtains, but Ben’s luxurious blind and curtain combo kept the daylight out more than Mat knew was possible.

Ben was sat up beside him in the bed, a book in hand and a pair of glasses perched on his nose which suited him extremely well. He turned his attention to Mat when he realised he had awoken. Placing his book open-pages-down on the duvet, he gave a small smile at Mat’s messy morning hair and met his tired eyes with his own calm blue gaze.

“Afternoon,” Ben smiled, amused at Mat’s ability to sleep for hours on end.

Mat simply made a contented grumble and snuggled against Ben’s side, closing his eyes and slipping back into unconsciousness.

When Mat re-awoke a few hours later he was alone in the bed. Ben had left him a glass of water and a blueberry muffin on the bedside table. Mat smiled to himself and struggled out of bed, wincing at the cold air chilling him as soon as he left the protection of the duvet. He quickly grabbed the blanket that lay at the end of the bed and slung it over his shoulders, then picked up the glass and muffin and headed through to the living room, where he could hear the oddly quiet sound of people shouting.

As the living room door creaked open, Ben grabbed the remote and changed channel immediately – to anything. He ended up on the BBC Weather update, which was drastically better than what he had been watching seconds ago.

Mat’s expression relaxed when he entered and saw that only Ben occupied the room.

“Where was that muted shouting coming from?” Mat asked as he flopped down next to Ben on the sofa and snuggled against his side.

“What? Oh, that was nothing... Just the TV, you know...”

Mat wasn’t convinced. “Shouting on the weather report? Come on Ben, what were you really watching?” He set down his breakfast on the coffee table and snatched the remote up from the sofa cushion where it rested and hit ‘back up’.

The TV flickered onto E4, where the guests on Jeremy Kyle were still bickering amongst themselves.

Mat grinned. “You said you didn’t have any weird TV-watching habits.”

“I don’t. I hate the guy. It was the only thing on...” Mat cast him a dubious glance. Ben quickly changed tact. “Talking of weird TV-watching habits, guess what’s on next?”

Mat clapped his hands excitedly as he flicked through the on-screen guide to find that Cash In The Attic was the next programme in line. He reclaimed his muffin and inched closer to Ben, who settled down next to him.

“How did you know blueberry was my favourite?” Mat asked, halfway through a mouthful.

“Lucky guess,” Ben smiled.

“I love you so much,” Mat replied, placing a quick sugary kiss on Ben’s lips.

Ten minutes later the Cash In The Attic theme tune started up, Mat singing along as he usually does. The first item the presenters found was extremely valuable indeed.

_“Now here we’ve got a collection of Roman coins – these ones in particular are increasingly rare as they’re genuine Caesarean...”_

“Wow,” Mat breathed. “Genuine Caesarean? That’s awesome...”

Ben smiled. “I never really got why Caesar was executed. He was a pretty good emperor.”

“And he was pretty hot,” Mat added.

“You think?”

“Well, yeah, in an I’ve-got-lots-of-power-and-I'm-going-to-use-it-on-you type way.” A picture of a bust of Caesar flashed up on the screen. “Yeah, come on, that look is just so flirtatious it’s ridiculous. No wonder Mark Antony couldn’t resist.”

“Now there’s a hot Roman leader. I would’ve thought it was Caesar who couldn’t resist Antony.”

“Either way, they’re both hot and totally had a thing for each other. You’ve seen the play, right? Caesar and Antony were more open about their relationship than Brutus and Cassius were.”

“True. Hey, didn’t Caesar and Antony both have a thing with Cleopatra at some point or another as well?”

“Yup. Maybe they had some kind of weird threesome, who knows?”

Ben smiled simply at the fact that they were having this conversation.

"Thinking about it, there weren't many hetero emperors or leaders at all," Ben mused.

"Oh yeah? Who else was gay?"

"Well for a start there was Alexander the Great and Hephaestion. Alex cried for months when Heph died, and spent most of his time with him despite being married."

"Ah yes. A relationship there, without a doubt."

"Plus Elagabalus, who married and divorced women five times but had his mate Hierocles who he referred to as his husband. There was definitely something going on there."

"I'd never really thought about history in that sense. It was never controversial all that time ago. Makes you wonder what happened to get half the world against homosexuals."

"Religion," Ben answered simply.

_“For this collection you could easily get between £500,000 and £600,000.”_

_“Really?! Wow, I was not expecting that!”_

“Yes you were,” Mat chided, forgetting their previous conversation.

Ben slapped him gently on the arm. “Shh, let her be excited.”

“I’m sorry, but this collection has been passed through generations, she must have been told by someone that it contained every kind of Caesarean coin and that it was massively valuable as a unit.”

Ben sighed and resigned to let Mat comment on whatever he wanted to. After all, he had a point.


	19. Chapter 19

Mat waited until the evening to call Martha. Ben was busy making dinner so Mat grabbed an apple from the fridge and settler on the bed, whipping out his mobile to catch up with his best friend.

As he was about to hit dial, he stopped himself and instead sent a quick text just in case Martha was... busy. He didn’t want to interrupt anything after all.

She called back moments later.

“Hey Martha, how are you?”

“Much better than I thought I’d be after last night,” she confessed. “I just can’t believe I was so stupid as to not see it...”

“You’re not stupid, Martha.”

“That’s what Jim said too...” Her voice had suddenly switched to a soft, affectionate tone.

“Oh yeah?” Mat said, amused.

“Yeah, we kinda... hooked up.” Mat could practically hear her blushing.

“At last,” Mat mumbled, smiling to himself.

He heard a low muffled voice on the other end of the line, followed by a reply from Martha and Mat resolved to start on his apple while she finished her conversation. Her tone sounded anxious, and he could just make out Jim’s concerned, more distant tenor responding. Soon the sound of a closing door echoed down the line and Martha was back. Sorry about that.”

“S’alright,” Mat said through a mouthful of apple. “Everything okay that end?”

“It was Alex calling on the landline. He hadn’t called since I saw him last night.” Martha paused, but Mat sensed she wanted to say more.

“Eight months. Eight months we went out and he didn’t mention it once. We discussed all our relationships, he even told me about a couple of flings he’d had with guys ages ago, but I assumed they meant nothing as it was so long ago and he’d had so many hetero relationships since. But he never once mentioned anything about... Oh my god, I’m so sorry. How’s Ben feeling?”

_“Crunch_ – He’s fine, as far as I’m aware. It hasn’t been mentioned since – _crunch_ – so if he doesn’t want to bring it up again – _crunch_ – I’ll respect that.”

“How much did he tell you?”

“Everything, as far as I’m aware. He seemed pretty shaken up by it all at the time; I’m amazed he told me so much, to be honest. I’m just glad I could be there for him, and that he trusted me enough to tell me.”

“Never let that once go, Mat.”

Mat smiled sheepishly to himself. He never planned to.

“I’ve got to go,” he said as Ben’s head appeared round the door. “Dinner’s ready. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you. Thanks Mat.”

“Any time.”

***

The atmosphere in the theatre the next week was slightly subdued compared to the new excitement of the previous one. News had spread quickly about the encounter at the party, which hung unmentioned in the air for the first day, but as always, Mat was bouncing around the place, constantly teasing smiles onto everyone’s faces whenever anybody looked a little down.

Martha and Jim had become inseparable. Martha had given up working in the office and spent most of her time with the rest of the group. She checked up on the new trainee administrator, Alice, during her breaks. Martha had even been assigned a minor role in the performance too; Mat had casually mentioned to Simon one day how witty she’d been in drama classes all those years ago in secondary school, and she stayed true.

Given Mat’s unprofessional acting history, it was a surprise to all from the guest company that he was soon considered one of the best actors in the house. He was even starting to get more laughter and applause in rehearsals than Ben, who until then had always been the star of the show.

As the weekend finally drew close on Friday evening, Jim had an announcement.

“Right, well I think we can all agree that the play’s going pretty well – so well, in fact, that we’ve had someone in today who has come to take a look at it in production. I’m sure most of you have noticed Caroline in the stalls today watching our rehearsals –” He paused to beckon the professional-looking woman from her seat. She smiled at the cast and gave a small wave.

“Caroline is assistant producer in the Royal Shakespeare Company and is here on behalf of the producer, Greg Jenner, who is looking for an aspiring actor to play a lead role in their upcoming production of Macbeth. Now, they’ll need some minor roles as well, so don’t worry if you’re not selected for the lead, but this could be a really big break for some of you...”

Jim decided to stop talking over the excited discussion that had broken out.

Mat could hardly comprehend what was happening. Macbeth. He still knew all the lines off by heart from their own production of it – the production that persuaded Simon that he was theatre-worthy. And not he might finally be able to make it.

This could be it; and he was determined to make it so.

***

All anyone could talk about over the weekend was the Macbeth production. The cast went for drinks on Saturday (as suggested, somewhat predictably, by a certain Mr Farnaby) after rehearsals and Caroline barely managed to breathe from all the questions she was being asked. By the end of the night, however, she was part of the group, fitting easily into conversation and laughing at everyone’s jokes. She was even a pretty hardcore drinker, much to Simon’s delight.

After a couple of hours, Ben set down his now empty third pint and took Mat’s hand. “We’d best be off now,” he said, standing up to drunken protestations. “Sorry guys, we’ll see you on Monday, yeah?”

The group said their farewells and the pair were soon out in the cool night air, collars turned up towards the shimmering stars. Ben felt Mat’s arm slide through his, soft locks of hair tickle his cheek as he rested his head on his shoulder. He heard Mat inhale as though he were about to say something, but stopped short as a stray drunk meandered across their path.

“You...” the man before them slurred, pointing a dirty finger at Ben. He then wobbled slightly, frowning, before continuing. “You know what? You’re gonna be proper famous one day, mate. You get me? Your kids too, I bet. I can tell; you’ve got something about you... It’s all around you...”

He took a stumbling step towards Ben, who promptly froze and turned to Mat for some kind of assistance.

Mat placed a hand carefully on the arm of the stranger. “Mate, are you oka–”

“And you!” The drunk twisted dizzily towards Mat, his pointing hand landing heavily on Mat’s shoulder. His breath reeked of alcohol, which Mat tried to ignore as the stench was huffed repeatedly in his face before the man spoke again. “You’re gonna be like him too – better than him, yeah, but... not as good, you know.”

Mat was oddly transfixed. He could clearly see this guy was off his head, but people were known to tell the truth when they were hammered; prophesising, he wasn’t sure about, but it was worth a try.

“What do you mean,” Mat asked evenly, keeping contact with the man’s red, dilated eyes.

“You’re gonna be famous too, man – up on the stage someday...”

Mat could barely believe what this guy was saying. Ben was leaning in too now, equally baffled.

But before anything else could be said, two more men stumbled out of the dark and each took an arm of the foretelling drunk.

“Sorry about this, fellas,” one of them mumbled, not sounding too sober himself. “Gotta get this one back in his cage.”

The three men gave a low chuckle before turning away and heading down the street.

“Wait!” Ben said, finding his voice. “Explain what you were saying – I don’t under...” His voice faded as the men disappeared into the dark.

“Are you okay?” Mat gushed turning to Ben and placing his hands on either sides of his boyfriend’s face and searching his eyes, concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied, tearing his gaze from the desolate street and reassuring Mat with a tight hug. “What was that all about?”

Mat frowned back down the road. “I’m not entirely sure. Let’s just forget about it and go to bed,” he suggested, taking Ben’s hand once more and leading the way.

Neither of them spoke any more about the strange incident, and after an hour or so of silent contemplation, both fell into a restless sleep.


End file.
